Diamante's Case File
by Gashadokur0
Summary: Diamante Corvus was a student, arriving at Hogwarts 2 years before the boy who lived. The life he lived was ever so chaotic, he couldn't walk 2 steps without leaving a mark on the magical school. A story about an original character and few more settings added in that will diverge the story from the original series.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

_Tom Riddle always had someone that supported him the most, competing with the Lestrange. What was his name?_

_I believe that 'someone' was called Ravana, Professor Dumbledore._

_Ah yes, Ravana. No one really knew about him, did they? Shrouded in more mysteries than his master. Do you know what happened to him, Minerva?_

_If the stories are right, Ravana continued to protect the followers of the Dark Lord even after his defeat at the hands of Harry Potter, the boy who lived. However 3 years after Voldemort's defeat, he too disappeared. According to the testimonies of the captured death eaters, he told them that there was "Family affairs he needed a sort through". It's clear what his intentions were if the home he was last seen to be was found to be blown into fragments the very next morning, with no bodies to be found but enough blood to tell the tales of the family._

_Peculiar, isn't it? 3 years to think over how his master was defeated, yet he also meets a similar fate._

_It seems so. But what was the occasion for bringing that up now, 5 years after the incident?_

_Ravana also had followers, and it seems that they have shown themselves after years of hiding. It was only 4 days ago that we found one wrecking quite the trouble in Diagon alley._

_Oh my, you mean that incident that was all over the Daily Prophet was the work of-_

_I'm afraid it is. Worse, the man was found dead while he was in custody of the ministry of magic. Frozen to death, among other wounds. I've heard from Cornelius that they're still investigating what exactly happened, but no solid evidence has yet to come up. _

_Oh dear, Professor Dumbledore_

_It seems it's only a matter of time before this era of peace ends._

* * *

There were 2 rules in Amoris St that everyone living on the streets followed.

You do not trespass the area beyond the 3 roads.

If you see a 9-year-old girl with raven-black hair, you leave her alone.

Follow these 2 rules and you would have no problem. Break either of them, and you'd have to face the retribution of the Beast child of Amoris St.

That so-called Beast Child of Amoris St was perplexed by a letter that was slipped under the door of an abandoned hospital he and his sister called their home. Few doors were broken down and the asphalt walls were fragmented. The boy slowly read the letter once more, after reading it several times to try and find anything that pointed out that this letter was nothing more than a scheme to lure him and his sister into danger.

The envelope had their address printed out in an unusual manner.

_Diamante Corvus, Amoris public hospital, Amoris St._

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr Corvus,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

"What is it DiDi?" Diamante's little sister, Rossa, said in a voice mixed with curiosity and excitement.

"Just a prank letter. Just put it in the fire as fuel."

Rossa quickly searched the letter as soon as she got it in her hands, before looking back at her brother and exclaimed: "But it says you're accepted into a school!"

"Yeah, for magic."

"But that's great, isn't it? You get to learn magic and become a wizard!"

Diamante forced a smile and simply patted Rossa's head.

"But where would you be while I studied? What would you do?"

"I'll just stay here and wait until you come back!"

"You know I won't allow that. I've already decided that I won't go. Besides, I don't believe anything in the letter is real."

If Magic was real, we wouldn't be living like this in the first place.

Rossa looked back at the letter and although looking a little sad at her brother's decision, quickly placed it into the drum container that had a fire burning within.

* * *

Rossa was asleep on one of the hospital beds, wrapping herself with every blanket she could get her hands on. All except one, which was what cover Diamante's legs while he quietly read books that were stored in the office of the head doctor. A few were biomedical books that he made himself suffer to understand. But the more prominent texts he set his eyes one were books about using peculiar plants he never knew existed and turning them into a very bizarre brew. Another book was about beasts that he was confident to recognize as mythological monsters. Both of them were written as if they were encyclopedias, but the information is written convinced Diamante that they were merely fiction. Several thoughts continuously streamed throughout his mind as he flipped each page and read the content. He didn't believe anything in the letter was real. But that didn't mean that he didn't want to. A thought that only crept back up at night time, it was his desire to see the book's content to be real. Creatures like the unicorn, pegasus, or the manticore, all real and living in front of his eyes.

But in the day there were too many threats to his life to even fantasize about these things. Dangerous people, some simply nutcases that couldn't think properly, some that decided to think that they were confident enough to try and take over the territory Diamante has decided to make his own. If push comes to shove, Diamante could come out as the victor when up against them, even if he had to go for some underhanded tactics. Sometimes, when realizing that Diamante couldn't win, he'd simply run and hide.

And then there were monsters, nothing like Diamante read from the books. Diamante couldn't even convince himself that they were just nightmares, hallucinations. Inhumane creatures that disguised themselves as men, walked like men.

_I took a liking to you, boy. Why don't we make a deal?_

Spoke words like men, thought like men.

_Why don't you hand over your sister to me, and I'll let you live. What do you think?_

Their intentions were clear that they were anything but.

Horrifying abominations that made Diamante's ears ring whenever they were near. Diamante couldn't even fight them. All he could do was run and hide.

Every single time.

Diamante was pulled back from his thoughts when he heard footsteps.

"..."

The footstep stopped in front of his door.

Diamante was smart enough not to callously answer to the sound. If it was Rossa, she would knock on the locked door and call his name.

The doorknob quietly turned but was stopped from fully turning by the lock.

It wasn't Rossa.

He quietly got out of bed in a panicked state and hid in the corner near the door. He was close to the door enough to hear the person on the other side of the door say 'Alohamora'.

Alohamora?

The door's lock clicked as the door swung open with no resistance. Diamante was starting choke as he saw light bleeding into the room. A tall man, clad fully in black, entered the room. He had something like a stick in one of his hands, emitting light from the tip.

Diamante didn't hear ringing in his ears. It wasn't one of those monsters. But that didn't calm him down, not even the slightest.

The man started to look around the room as Diamante quietly started to crouch down and covered his mouth with his hands as if he was trying to stop his heart from jumping out of his mouth. The only thing he heard in the room was the beating of his heart. The man was quietly scanning the room before sighing and turning around.

The light revealed Diamante hiding behind the door. The two people's eyes met and Diamante flinched.

This was it. This was how his life came to an end.

"Diamante Corvus?"

The man even knew his name. It was clear he was searching for Diamante.

Diamante stayed silent, too scared to take his eye away from the man. The man simply frowned and started rummaging in what looked like his robe. He pulled something out and Diamante flinched before he even looked at what it was.

It was a piece of paper. The man simply put the letter on the floor, near Diamante's feet. As the man backed off, Diamante used his foot to quickly bring it closer and picked it up. It was a letter.

_Diamante Corvus, Amoris public hospital, Amoris St._

It was the same letter he got this morning.

The man looked at Diamante. It looked like he just wanted all of this to be done with as soon as possible.

"I'm not going." Diamante, after several minutes of silence, finally gained enough courage to blurt it out. The man simply frowned in response.

"Why not."

The first reason that popped into his head was his sister, but he decided against telling him this.

"I don't believe it."

That was the second reason.

"Don't believe what." The man said as he sneered.

"That anything letter says is real."

The man stayed silent at the boy's answer. Of course, the light coming from the stick the man was holding and the door magically unlocking itself may have convinced the boy that it was real. However, the boy was too scared to even think about any of those.

"Then I regret to inform you that they are indeed real, whether or not your petty little brain believes it is your own problem."

Diamante stayed silent. The man saw the boy looking at the letter. He could see that the boy was still sceptical about all this.

"It seems you're having quite the time, Severus."

"... Professor Dumbledore..."

A second voice was heard from the door, more gentle and reassuring than the man. An elderly figure walks into the room and kneels down in front of Diamante. He presents from his pockets a handful of confectionaries.

"What is a young fellow like you doing in this kind of place?" The elderly figure asked in a light-hearted tone.

Diamante didn't trust anyone in the room, but the patience they gave him as he stayed silent reassured that although they may look intimidating, they weren't here to hurt him. At least, not right now.

"This is where I live, sir." Diamante finally replied in a quiet voice.

"Oh dear, all alone?" The elder replied in a surprised tone. His eyes met Diamante's, and the boy saw sadness and regret. Diamante was still wary enough to not tell about his sister yet.

And it seemed Diamante didn't need to.

"DiDi, what's going on?"

His sister stood at the frame of the door, recently woken up and rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes. Both of the strangers look at Rossa back at Diamante. Rossa's eyes widened when she started to register the scenery but misinterpreted it. She quickly grabbed anything she could wield: a book becomes the nominee, and quickly cut between the 2 strangers and her brother. She had both fear and hostility in her eyes, which both of the strangers registered and carefully backed away. The elder was the first to speak after examining the two.

"... Your parents?"

Both of the kids stayed silent.

"Oh dear."

There was a considerable amount of silence. The two strangers looked at each other, and the elder's face was evident that he was going deep into his thoughts. The silence was broken by the cough from the elder.

"Would both of you like to come with us?"

* * *

_Thank you for having the patience to read up this chapter! I forgot to add this in when I first wrote and uploaded this, so I'll quickly add this in here. Reviews and criticism are very much appreciated!_


	2. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (1)

_**Diamante case file 1: Diamante (1)**_

The entire process of convincing the two siblings to go with Dumbledore went surprisingly smooth. Several servings of food and unattached hospitality made them more comfortable with the idea of having a guardian than when first proposed. Of course, that didn't mean it went without any problems or obstacles.

When Dumbledore and Snape met with McGonagall to explain the situation, she was shocked at the state the siblings. Both of them have pale faces, golden eyes and split black hair, Rossa's going down to her chest and Diamante's simply going down to his neck, Dumbledore and McGonagall agreed that anyone would've been convinced that Diamante was related to Snape. What set them apart was that Diamante didn't have a crooked nose nor chin like Snape's. And his golden eyes didn't give off a feeling of being looked down on. Rossa was in better condition, although both were clearly suffering from malnutrition Rossa was the one who was definitely more fed. Diamante was good at hiding his problems under the clothes, but upon a clearer look in a well-lit room, they could find bruises, scratches, and even deep slashes on his arms and legs. They were treated with muggle methods of first aids and non-magical medicine, and these were enough to prevent the wounds from turning into scars. When McGonagall offered fresh new clothes for them to change into, she was shocked once more when Diamante started to uncover the so-called problems under the clothes. Oh Merlin, Diamante confidently heard her mutter under her breath. What she saw was a body that was suffering from several foodless nights, several bruises and scratches, and what seemed to be a scar connecting the left side of his torso and back. Bleached skin tissue that looked like it was trying to fill in a puncture on the body, like gum forcefully shoved into a hole in a wall. Diamante was a little startled by the adult's reaction. He didn't know how to react. He simply tried his best to read the mood and go along with it.

Rossa Corvus accepted the offer faster than her older brother. Her naivety stemming from her youth may have contributed to the quick trust, but it was also clear that she was more willing to trust others because she didn't suffer in the streets as much as Diamante had. The adults suspected that Diamante did everything he could to lessen the suffering Rossa would've had to endure. Diamante, on the other hand, was a different case altogether. Snape saw him being less trusting. Becoming defensive whenever someone asked him about his past, or how he managed to live on his own while taking care of a younger sibling.

"I'm just sceptical about this." Diamante simply said. "We used to live in an orphanage, and that didn't end well. That's all."

Dumbledore managed to find a way past the wall Diamante built up, with a simple method of calling Fawkes, his pet phoenix. Snape saw Diamante's eyes brighten with wonder when he saw the phoenix. He didn't drop his guard entirely, but it was a start. Seeing that his sister was happy with this turn of event and willing to accept the offer, Diamante relented soon after. Now that the offer was accepted, the next issue was who would become their guardian. McGonagall, seeing the states they were in, naturally volunteered. That would've been the end of it, but Dumbledore seemed to have other ideas.

"Severus, what do you think about becoming their guardian as well?" The question caught Snape off guard, and he soon found the siblings staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"I... don't think I'll be a suitable... guardian to them..." Snape replied.

"And I would've thought so too. But it seems that Mr Corvus over here is particularly interested in the subject of these books." Dumbledore said with a smile as he presented the books Diamante was reading during his stay at the Amoris public hospital. Snape instantly recognized what they were: One was the 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them' by Newt Scamander. The books in Dumbledore's other hand was 'One thousand magical herbs and fungi' and 'Potion Opuscule'. Snape's mouth opened slightly with one eyebrow hitched. He looked back at Diamante who turned his stare from Snape to the books, trying to figure out what Dumbledore just said.

"Mr Corvus?" Diamante switched his gaze from the books to Dumbledore in response to the elder calling his name.

"Are you interested in such subjects?"

"Yes, I am." Diamante replied without hesitation. Dumbledore started to smile.

"Severus over here (he nodded towards Snape) is, in fact, the potions teacher in Hogwarts. (Diamante immediately looked back at Snape in surprise. You? Snape felt a bit offended by the look he got from the young boy) You could learn a lot from him. (Snape saw the young boy ponder for a while before he looking back with his eyes beaming) Of course, it is his decision to whether or not accepts to become your guardian with Minerva. (Dumbledore nodded towards McGonagall, who at this point has started to tell Rossa about the wonderful tales of Hogwarts)."

Snape, after hearing this, turned to look at Diamante once more. Snape saw Diamante staring at him, his eyes looked like he was trying hard to hide the hope of Snape accepting. It was now Snape's turn to ponder about this offer. It was clear that this Corvus boy was passionate about this subject. And although he was not the specialist in the beast department, herbs and fungi used for potion ingredients as well as potions itself are definitely one of his fortes, not to mention his quite formidable knowledge in the defence against the dark arts. After weighing several pros and cons, one thought settled in his mind that finally tipped the scale to the favour of Diamante.

_I could use him as an assistant. I'll definitely work him to the bones for that offending look he gave me. I'll show him that not everything handed to him will be sweet._

A sly grin started to form on Snape's face and Diamante perfectly read it as it formed. He realised that not everything was going to be as sweet as he thought it would be.

"Very well" Snape replied, "I suppose I can make rooms for two kids... After all, McGonagall will also be taking care of them as well."

Dumbledore and McGonagall smiled. Rossa smiled. Diamante received a prophecy and did not smile.


	3. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (2)

Despite the first 2 days being spent on Diamante being wary of his new home and therefore becoming very reclusive in his room, Severus Snape has learnt a few things about Diamante Corvus over the past 3 weeks. 1: His time contributed to reading through several textbooks regarding magical botany and potion brewing did not go to waste. This was prominent when after the first 2 days, Diamante started to get used to his surroundings and decided to ask Snape if he can teach him how to brew potions. (Or attempt to, anyway. Diamante simply threw some disconnected strings of words like 'Ummm….. Mr. Snape?' and 'I want to learn… how to….' and Snape simply pieced them together with minimal effort).

"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Without missing a beat he would reply.

"You'd get the draught of the living dead."

"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"Stone growing on a goat's stomach. Multi-purpose antidote."

Snape decided to try a harder question. A trick question. He set two plants on his table. One had a purple flower, while the other one had a wine-red flower growing on the end. He pointed to the wine-red flower.

"This is a monkshood."

Snape saw Diamante briefly look up to see his face, before quickly darting it to the plant. He remained silent.

"And this- (he pointed to the purple flower) is a wolfsbane… What is the difference between the monkshood and wolfsbane?"

It was a trick question he favored to use on his students. The ones that decided not to prepare for the potion lesson would, without a doubt, say the simple difference of their appearance. One's purple, the other one's red. That was the difference between these two plants, but not the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood.

He saw Diamante look at the two plants, alternating. Then he looked up at Snape and answered.

"They don't have a difference. They're both called aconite: they're the same plant"

Snape raised an eyebrow at the response. Diamante was far more talented than his peers on the theoretical side.

"Correct. Seems like all your time spent on reading books wasn't... a waste."

He expected Diamante to at least puff his chest out in pride, if not smile at least. Any kid would be proud if given praise in the subject they are interested in. But not Diamante. Diamante simply looked at Snape with the same blank expression he wore the entire time he was in the potion room in Snape's house. But Snape paid no more attention to Diamante's behavior. He was simply satisfied that at least he was going to have a somewhat reliable assistant.

2: He was not a reliable assistant.

Snape realized soon enough when he decided to put Diamante into helping him brew a cure for boils, that Diamante was only excelling in theory. He had yet to have any experience with practical brewing, and as a result, his hands were equal in strength to a minor disaster whenever he touches the cauldron.

"I told you to crush the snake fangs into a fine powder, Corvus. Does this look like fine powder to you?"

"Oh fuck off, the only powder I've seen in my lifetime finer than this was the ashes of Kelvin's grandmot- Ow, fuck, ok, fine, fine! I'll crush it more!"

Diamante quickly moved the failed cure for boils to the side and got fresh snake fangs. Snape didn't take any more chances and constantly looked over Diamante's shoulders (Not that hard, he was only 11. It was more like looking over his head, to be more truthful).

"Grind the pestle to the side, it will be easier to crush the medium-sized bone fragments to powder if you do."

"What, like this?"

"If you have functioning eyes, you'd be able to see whether it is the right method or not by looking at the results."

Snape heard a quiet 'fuck off' being exhaled under Diamante's breath.

"You are supposed to boil it at 250, not 280!"

"How the fuck could I know that, do I look like a fucking thermometer to you?"

"I'll certainly turn you into one, at least you'll be useful then!"

This was not the end of Diamante's disasters.

"You took the cauldron out too early, it's 33 minutes, minimum, and you turned the flame off 2 minutes earlier!"

"Well, I'm fucking sorry my brain had yet to develop a fucking stopwatch!"

"This is the 3rd time you have put raw horned snails instead of steamed ones, you absolute dunderhead!" 

"Well, maybe it's god's sign to finally tell me why the fuck do you even have the raw slugs and the steamed slugs FUCKING LOOK THE SAME!"

The responses certainly convinced Snape to slap Diamante in the back of the head with a 4 page paper on how to brew cure for boils (and 3 other potions) he was holding in his hand, failed potion mixtures dripping down his shoulders and hair. The impact made Diamante exhale a few more vulgar insults before rubbing the back of his head, which was covered with the failed cure for boils mixture that erupted out of the cauldron.

3: He was a fast learner.

Thank Merlin he was a fast learner. Few more arguments and incidents like this and Snape would've shipped Diamante off to Professor McGonagall, where his sister Rossa was currently living in.

It took him 15 tries before he finally got the general know-how of potion brewing (ie. Mortar and pestle, adjusting the temperature, accurate timing. Merlin's beard, the accurate timing) and finally got pink smoke to erupt out of the cauldron. Diamante finally sighed in relief as he saw the smoke become the right color (He failed to hear the Snape has also sighed in relief as well).

"Right, we're finally done!"

Diamante shouted as he extended his fist above his head in triumphant. Snape merely twisted his lips into a snide grin.

"Done? Who said you were done?"

Diamante slowly brought his fists down back to his waist as he turned around to meet Snape in the eyes.

"What do you mean by that?"

"We got 3 more potions to brew before it is officially 'done'"

Snape saw Diamante's eyes slowly morph into a thousand-yard stare as his brain started to process what Snape have just said. He saw Diamante's mouth slowly open.

"Oh fuck this."

4: For an 11-year old, he had quite a vulgar mouth.


	4. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (3)

Luckily the other 3 potions (Wiggenwald, Herbicide and the Pompion potion) went without much of a hitch, thanks to the sacrifice of cure for boils. The minor problems that were caused were quickly fixed with the combined effort of Diamante and Snape. Their focus on the potions, however, made them fail to realize the by the time they finished brewing the pompion potion it was already 8 o'clock.

"We'll be continuing your lesson on potion brewing tomorrow…."

Snape saw Diamante finally relaxing as they walked out of the room and briefly paused.

"... I will make dinner. Try not to cause any trouble while I cook."

5: He had the curiosity of a typical 11-year-old all concentrated into finding new books to read, and new plants and animals to see and touch.

For 4 days he concentrated on looking around the house to find any books that would interest him in his free time. Naturally, Snape had the majority of the books in his house be related potions and the flora and fauna that was used as ingredients (The minority were books for defence against the dark arts, which Diamante also took an interest in). However, he was quick-witted enough to not simply rummage through the entire house. He quickly realized where the line was drawn and remained within the boundary. He never went into Snape's room, nor did he ever lay a hand on documents, newspapers, nor the potion equipments that Snape did not provide for the current potion brewing assignment. His cautious nature would always overwrite his curiosity.

Most of the time, anyway.

It was after a regular lesson in potion brewing when Snape found Diamante starting to stare intently at the lit fireplace. Snape followed his gaze and realized his fire had spawned a salamander.

"Entranced by a simple salamander, Corvus?"

Diamante turned around to face Snape. Snape saw his cheeks grow red from Snape's statement and turned back to view the creature spawned in the fireplace. Staying silent for a good few minutes

"Never saw anything like this other than in books. Natural beasts made out of fire."

Diamante was too entranced by the salamander to hear Snape let out a small snort.

"What are the properties of salamander blood?"

Diamante turned around once more but stayed silent for a few seconds. If I knew correctly, it was…

"It had healing and rejuvenating properties, I believe."

"...Correct."

Snape looked at the young boy sitting on the floor. The dark living room, illuminated by nothing but the fireplace that this young boy has turned his back on, made his current facial feature hard to make out.

_What else did you hide from me!?_

_Who are you Eileen, really?_

_What next, you've been cheating with a demon behind my back?_

_You're a freak, just like your mother._

Voiceless words were ringing in Snape's ears as he saw the boy in front of him slowly turn into a young Severus Snape. The hair didn't help either, black and going down to his jaw. Sitting there on the floor, constantly alternating his gaze from the floor to Snape. Snape realized he was doing the same thing.

"... Mr Snape?"

Snape's thoughts were interrupted by a wary voice coming from the young boy. He looked back and all he could see was Diamante Corvus, his body looked like it was pondering whether it was the right time to turn back to the salamander. Young Severus disappeared from the house, nowhere to be seen.

"Is… is there something wrong?"

"No."

Snape simply turned his back and walked into the kitchen.

The damn Corvus was bringing up unsavoury memories.

* * *

Despite the quite neglected state of the house, Snape seemingly produced a well-cooked meal. Almost as if he magically conjured them with his wand (Snape answered that such magic was impossible. Guess magic couldn't do everything). Mealtimes were normally processed quietly. Snape wasn't much of a talker and Diamante still didn't get used to the amount of food he could actually eat in luxury (He would ask Snape if Rossa was able to eat as much as this in McGonagall's house. Snape quietly smirked and replied that Rossa was probably being pampered by the old lady. Snape's attempt to draw at least a hint of jealousy out of the boy was instead met with a sigh of relief). The silence would sometimes be broken by small talks and questions, but silence quickly recovered after such short conversations.

"... Mr Snape?"

"What is it."

"... I'll cook the meals, tomorrow onwards."

Snape scrounged up his face and looked at Diamante. You? The one who couldn't even measure the temperature correctly, or even correctly measure the time? Snape continued to look at Diamante with an offended expression until he saw Diamante's eyes. Snape realized Diamante was starting to act like a few of the students he had in his class. Please, sir, I'll clean the storage room for the rest of my years in Hogwarts. I'll even clean the armours in the corridors, just don't tell my father that I failed. Please!

It was a strategy they liked to use to hide their failures. Especially abundant in Slytherin.

"... I'll even clean the potion room, every day."

Diamante's voice slowly descended into a quiet mumble as he went on. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it. Snape has started to look at him with suspicion. What did he do while I was cooking?

"What are you hiding?"

Diamante quickly replied.

"Nothing. It's… It's just that-"

"Yes?"

Diamante stayed silent for a few seconds. He then started to mumble. It was audible enough for Snape to hear. Snape expected the answer to be several things.

"Could we keep the salamander?"

Snape didn't expect that.

He knew that Diamante was interested in animals, but he surprisingly did not expect DIamante to become attached to one so quickly. Diamante looked at Snape's blank expression that formed once he heard Diamante's request. Snape looked at Diamante once more after staring at the walls subconsciously. Diamante was starting to get nervous.

"Frankly, I wouldn't want to waste my tastebud eating whatever hands touch, considering it took 15 tries at brewing a cure for boils to get it right."

Snape saw Diamante's face fall at his comment. Snape started to grin.

"... How long does a fire dwelling salamander live for?"

"... As long as the fire it was born from is still burning"

Diamante believed that Snape was asking the question to tell him that the Salamander was only going to live for a few moments before it's life expired.

"What can you feed them to survive out of their fire, and up to how long?"

"... Pepper, up to 6 hours."

"Salamanders can get what illness, and what do you do to cure it?"

"... Scalerot, you rub chilli powder on them to cure it…"

"What happens if you don't cure it?"

"... Eventually, their tails will fall off…"

Snape's grin was hidden with a cup he was taking a sip out of. The room fell silent for a few minutes.

"I won't be taking care of it."

"..."

Diamante looked like he already accepted Snape's decision, which he believed was a decline.

"I expect you to take responsibility for the salamander, as well as the fire."

Snape saw Diamante's face light up with confusion, before forming into a surprised look. Snape saw Diamante's lip curling into a small smile before shouting

"Of course!"

"I also expect you to be cleaning the potion room every Thursday night."

"Sure thing!"

"Then I see no problem here."

"Thank you, Mr Snape!"

The silence was unable to fully recover as Diamante produced some noises of metal hitting the porcelain.

"I hope our agreement hasn't turned you into a savage, Corvus."

Diamante looked embarrassed by this statement, and silence slowly returned.


	5. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (4)

6: He had a natural affinity with animals.

The next 2 days he divided his focus from simply reading books in his free time to also taking care of the salamander (Diamante decided to name the salamander Briar). As per the agreement, Diamante carried out his side of the deal faithfully. Snape was surprised by the lack of complaint that came out of Diamante while he was clearing, there was bound to be at least a few groans coming from the students in Hogwarts whenever they were forced to do such chores.

The salamander itself was also grown to become affectionate towards the young boy, once enough food and care given to it convinced the salamander that Diamante was its faithful caretaker.

Diamante naturally started to slowly invade the fireplace itself, feeding the salamander peppers while reading up on other fantastical beasts and mystical arts of potion brewing.

Snape accepted the change and simply continued using his free time reading newspapers and writing papers in his chair.

* * *

Starting in the 2nd weekend, Diamante was sent to visit Professor McGonagall. Snape would've sent him off much earlier in the week, but Diamante taking up most of his attention caused Snape to forget all about it until McGonagall sent a letter (She would have sent a howler if Diamante was even an hour later than scheduled). Seemed like, despite the better care, the lack of her brother around made Rossa's mood worsen by the day. Despite trying not to show it, Snape could see that Diamante was beginning to look out the window and sigh whenever he thought Snape wasn't around. They managed the past 2 weeks through letters, but it was clear that letters were no longer enough to keep their moods up.

Since Diamante didn't know what to bring to Professor McGonagall's house, Snape simply packed the essentials for him: Clothes, toothbrush, books.

Snape apparated to McGonagall's front door. Snape started to walk towards the door when he realized that Diamante was simply standing where he apparated.

"What's the matter, Corvus."

Diamante was reluctant to take a step forward. His sister was there, and so was Professor McGonagall. Yet something held him back.

"Your sister is waiting for you, and so is Professor McGonagall. Are they not?"

"..."

Snape walked back to Diamante. He seemed a bit irritated by the sudden reluctance coming from the boy. He grabbed the young boy by the waste of his pants and started carrying him to the door.

"..But, Sev."

Snape stopped.

_Does it make a difference being a muggle-born?_

"...no…"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Nothing. What is it."

The sudden change in address caught him off guard. He looked down at the young boy, who seemed to have regretted trying out the new address. The boy barely talked to him. If his short temper didn't spew out vulgar insults his mouth was normally closed. Even when it opened, it was at best a distant 'Mr. Snape'.

"I… I know Rossa and Professor McGonagall are waiting for me inside, but…."

"..."

"..."

"What is it. Spit it out already."

Diamante meet Snape in the eye. Snape was getting a bit impatient with the kid. Damn Corvus, what's the matter with you?

"... What about you, sir?"

"... What about me?"

Snape was confused about the boy's question.

"... Is it because of Briar?"

"No, sir."

During the whole preparation, Briar was Diamante's first worry. Feeding pepper to a salamander continuously was not good for its health, and moving fire without separating it from the main source was indeed a major hassle. Thus Snape has already reassured Diamante that he will have taken care of the fire beast while the young boy was at McGonagall's. Snape thought that due to his attachment to the arcane amphibian he was still worried about it.

But that wasn't the case.

"Will you be alright on your own?"

Snape was confused by the strange question. A bit offended as well as if the young boy was saying that Snape wasn't capable of taking care of himself. I was the one that suffered for trying to take care of you, intolerant child.

"What do you mean by that, Corvus."

"Will you be fine brewing potions on your own?"

"Of course."

"Will you be fine cooking alone?"

"I was always cooking alone, Corvus. It was a miracle that you didn't participate either."

"... Will you be fine eating alone?"

"Listen, Corvus. If your memory hasn't betrayed you more than your skills in brewing potions then you would have realized that it was _I_ that took care of you, along with myself."

Snape expected the young boy to reply with a few vulgar responses. Instead, he saw Diamante merely frown and look to the floor. Why do you keep bringing that up? You know I got the hang of it now. Snape heard the young boy mumble. True, but that never meant that his first several attempts at brewing potions were going to be forgotten so easily.

"I know that… it's just…"

"It's just what, Corvus."

Damn child.

"Won't you be lonely?"

Snape was taken aback by the sudden question. It's true that the boy was worried about Snape, but not in the way he was expecting. Snape stayed silent for a few moments. He looked back at the boy.

"You worry too much, Corvus. If you look at yourself and realize you're not that important, you'd realize that I was capable of living alone for the past decade."

Diamante simply nodded and stayed silent, as Snape resumed walking up to the door. Snape knocked on the door and waited. There were footsteps closing up to the door at a very fast pace.

"Besides, you'll, unfortunately, be returning back on Monday anyway."

"..."

"Just remember that you'll be brewing more potions than usual when you come back. Can't resume properly without making up for lost time, can we now."

Snape heard the boy whisper to himself. Shit. The door opened to reveal Rossa behind the door, looking at Diamante with a bright expression. Snape simply dropped the boy onto the floor, who promptly stood up (Insulting Snape during the process. Snape responded with a simply grab to the back of the young boy's head and swiftly pushing it down) to be hugged by his sister. Professor McGonagall swiftly entered the scene as she started to take the boy inside the house.

"About time isn't it, Severus?"

"Apologise for arriving so late."

"I know that the boy is entranced with brewing potions and all (Snape failed to hold in a short snort in response), but please try and have him visit at least twice a week or so."

"Of course."

"Well, it's a bit rude to send you off so quickly. Would you like to come inside for some tea?"

"I'm afraid I'm a bit busy at the moment."

"Is that so? Well, you have a nice day, will you? I'll send him back on Monday."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. I hope the boy won't be as troubled as he was to me."

And please don't send him back so early.

McGonagall giggled at the statement. Both said their farewell and Snape swiftly apparated back to his house.

Freedom, he thought. He put more firewood into the fireplace and went into his potion room. He started to try and experimenting with potions in hopes of producing a new potion with effects that were worth the hassle.

Snape started to heat up the cauldron

_Do I look like a fucking thermometer to you?_

Snape let out a short puff of air through his nose as Diamante's voice popped into his head.

"Damn Corvus."

_How the fuck am I supposed to know which plant is which if you're just going to dry them all up like this?_

"Read the label, you insufferable idiot."

Snape didn't realise he was talking to himself.

_Honestly, I can't read your handwriting, so I can't find the difference still._

"..."

After few more hours brewing mixtures, Snape left the potion room. Feeding more wood to the fire, Snape went into the kitchen to start cooking.

For the first time in decades did Snape suddenly felt that the table was empty when he sat down. One person, just one person and it felt like half the table was gone. Snape simply ignored the feeling and carried on eating.

Snape believed that since the boy distracting him was gone, he would finally be able to be more productive. Yet he realized that he was starting to look near the fireplace more than before, he couldn't properly write more than when Diamante was around.

"Damn Corvus."

He heard a knock on his door. Snape opened the door and was surprised to see who it was.

"Professor Dumbledore."

"Hello, Severus. Apologies for coming uninvited so suddenly."

"It's alright professor."

Snape invited Professor Dumbledore inside, and while Dumbledore sat down in one of the chairs in the living room, Snape promptly brought some tea.

Both sat in silence for a short amount of time, sipping tea. Dumbledore was the one that spoke first.

"How is the boy?"

"Horrible. I don't know why I thought taking him in as an extra pair of hands would be worth the hassle."

Dumbledore quietly chuckled at Snape's statement.

"And yet you decided to keep him for 2 weeks."

Snape simply closed his eyes and opened them a little later.

"... He wasn't that much of a nuisance."

"He's currently at Minerva's house, is he?"

"Yes. He's there to meet his younger sister."

"How willing was he?"

_Will you really be fine on your own?_

_Won't you be lonely?_

"Not that willing. Surprisingly."

"Surprising, because his sister was there?"

"Yes."

"I understand that it would be surprising, but I do see why would be reluctant."

"And why would he, sir?"

"Being parentless for quite a few years, I presume, and he starts to live with an adult that, while being rough, and admittedly, not very nice-"

Snape shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"-Ultimately showed kindness and hospitality, something he never really got after being orphaned."

"..."

Dumbledore looked into the fireplace and spotted Briar scuttling up and down the burning firewood. Snape followed Dumbledore's gaze and into the salamander as well.

"The boy named it Briar."

"So it's his pet, is it?"

"More or less."

Dumbledore simply laughed. He started to stand up and walk towards the fire. The elder's arrival scared the salamander to hide inside the pile of woods. Dumbledore pulled out his wand.

"Let me give him a gift as well."

He pointed his wand at the fire and started to speak a few incantations.

_Eternetus Incendio. Flarium gu brath. Inflamarius tange. Gorm Incendus._

Snape recognized the spells. They were used to conjure the Gubraithian fire, while the other incantations allowed the flame to be harmless to touch and carry. A flame that can be taken anywhere, burning eternally.

Snape simply watched Dumbledore as the elder continued to finish the enchantments.


	6. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (5)

On Monday, Diamante returned to Snape's house. However, he was not alone.

"Good morning Severus. I hope you're alright with 4 more guests."

Apparently Rossa was curious about Snape's residence, and have decided to follow Diamante back.

"Of course Professor McGonagall. I'll prepare some tea for us while the Corvus's are- Diamante, what have you brought into this house."

Snape realized who the 3rd and 4th 'guest' was. One was a honey badger that had exposed hardened hide that resembled carapaces on it's back and shoulders, even some on its arm. A closer look at the beast made it resemble a bear as well. Yet the features of the honey badger was predominant. It had its torso and shoulder bandaged. This was the first time Snape saw anything like this beast, and he certainly didn't know what it was. The other beast, medium-small and perched on the young boy's shoulders, he recognized. An owl with legs longer than most owls, where the mass of feathers on the head formed to resemble the front piece of a silver crown, and the tail was elongated like a cape on a king. Its body black, with few of the feather on its body, outlined silver, the eye was lined red while the pupils looked like it had sapphires embedded in the socket. This one had its wings restrained with bandages.

"... We found this one injured in the backyard."

Diamante pointed at the honey badger that had started to look around the floor. Snape scowled at the beast, where the glare was effortlessly ignored by the beast.

"Mrs. McGonagall tried a healing spell, but it didn't heal as quickly."

"The hide just seems to repel spells, even beneficial ones."

Professor McGonagall added.

"Just like dragon hide."

Diamante concluded.

"It was aggressive and hostile as all fuc- (Language! Professor McGonagall exclaimed.) -Sorry miss. At first, but we managed to convince it after Professor McGonagall and Rossa gave it something to chew on (Rossa whispered loudly. It was this thing called a Bitterroot coated in honey!). It didn't want to leave after that, so we just took it."

Snape raised an eyebrow while looking at the beast and back at Diamante.

"So you have decided to simply keep it?"

"... Yes."

"Astounding, Diamante. I see you've become a natural prodigy in bringing in all sorts of disasters for me to suffer with."

"... I'll make sure to take care of it. It won't bother you…. I promise…"

Diamante looked a bit frustrated, but also hurt about the comment, as if he believed that Snape wouldn't allow the creature to stay. He did understand that Snape wouldn't want something like this in his house, making a ruckus, but that didn't mean he wasn't sad about the results. Snape knew what Diamante was thinking. He got something to tease the young boy with.

"I won't have a hideous beast like this living under this roof, trying to dig at the carpets like it's dirt. I want it out."

"... I understand, sir..."

Snape saw the young boy's face darken at the response given, but ultimately complying after several attempts of defiance rising from his face. Snape smirked at the boy's reaction. This was something worth seeing (Professor McGonagall seemed understanding at Snape's answer at first, but then frowned when Snape started to twist his lips into a smirk. He tried his best to ignore it).

"Keep it out at the backyard. I don't care what it does so long as it's outside. I never used the backyard for anything, anyway."

Diamante's face lit up, and Snape snorted at how easy it was to toy around with the young boy.

"Thank you, Sev!"

Diamante seemed to have noticed what he called Snape and suddenly became wary.

"... Sev?"

"What is it, you want something more onto the condition?"

"No, no. That's fine, it's nothing."

Snape no longer minded the change the way the boy addressed him. Diamante realized that he had yet to introduce the owl.

"And this guy-"

"A juvenile Stolas owl."

It was an owl that could grow as big as a snowy owl and had feathers with properties depending on where it came from. The feathers from the wings had soporific properties, used to enhance the effects of the draught of living death. The feathers from the back had hallucinogenic properties, that if brewed right, can create an antidote for most potions that affected the mind. The feathers from the chest could cause bodily fluids to be forcefully expelled through various means (sweating, peeing, diarrhea, etc) if taken alone, it was one of the few materials that has become the centre of attention for the possibility to produce a new batch of antidotes that could even be more potent in ailment curing properties than phoenix tears. With the way progress was going, there was a long way to go to see if this was possible. It was easy to tame, but its tendencies to forcefully spread the barbs by flapping its wings forcefully when feeling threatened or when simply agitated caused the ministry to debate what it's classification really was. (Of course, no one was dumb enough to consider it an X)

"We found it injured on the floor of the forest near Mrs. McGonagall's house. It spread its barbs at us so much that we would have suffered a lot more if Mrs. McGonagall didn't put a bubble on our head. It's calmed down now, so I don't… I don't think it would cause that much of a ruckus."

I guess the boy was worth some hassle, Snape thought.

"I'm sure you know what the barbs on the owl can do."

"... Yes…. sir"

"If it spreads it, it will be you alone that will clean it."

"Yes, sir."

"They say that the feather barb from the owl's chest is currently being researched for a new antidote. Take good care of it, and I will send it back here if it causes trouble in Hogwarts."

Diamante looked surprised at Snape's last statement.

"I can bring him to Hogwarts?"

Professor McGonagall chimed in.

"We'll have to talk about that to the headmaster. We know he's your pet, but even so, bringing such a dangerous creature into the school with other students….."

Diamante was understandable with what Professor McGonagall has said. The books themselves has always alternated between XX to XXX.

"Does... Does that apply to Solomon too?"

"Solomon?"

"The honey badger… thing. Rossa named it"

Rossa looked proud of the name, as she puffed up her chest triumphantly.

"Yes dear. You know how sharp the quills looked when it puffed them up. Don't worry, we can always have Hagrid take care of them if you can't bring them into school."

Quills? Snape looked more closely at the beast on the floor that has decided to curl up into a ball. Among the alternating black-white fur, there were thick needles peeking out ever so slightly. He really wondered how the young boy was fine meeting this creature.

"Of course, I was frightened when it showed them off. I was even more shocked to see Diamante and Rossa approach it."

Snape scowled at Diamante in response to Professor McGonagall's comment. Diamante flinched.

"Did you now? And I thought you had at least a functioning brain, Diamante."

"...It… It was injured, Sev…."

"And it would have been quite the front page on paper. Young boy foolishly approached an injured honey badger, met a humiliating death due to his own inability to know when to be curious and when to be cautious."

"I wasn't curious."

"Then what were you thinking."

"I was worried by how hurt it…. How hurt Solomon was…"

Snape simply scowled at the boy. But simply sighed. He pinched his nose for a moment and finally looked up.

"Just don't make any more foolish decisions while I get tea for Professor McGonagall."

Snape directed Professor McGonagall to the chairs, while Diamante showed Rossa Briar the salamander.

* * *

The gnomes in the backyard learned a terrible lesson that day when they saw a beast emerge from the door to invade the grounds in the backyard. Their attempts at trying to hurt the beast only resulted in its agitation. It was considerably quick for its size, and the gnome's relief of the difference in size between the hole they retreated in and the body of the beast was swiftly broken when they found out that a) The beast was able to squeeze into the hole with minimal effort, and b) the beast just as proficient, if not more, in burrowing. The gnomes that managed to be conscious of the beast's onslaught quickly escaped the backyard by squeezing through the fence. It ended with Solomon commemorating its successful invasion by making a mound on the right side of the yard, indicating that it was an entrance to its home.

Diamante and Rossa were outside, watching all of this occur and celebrate the victory of their pet by feeding it strands of wheat covered in honey. Snape and McGonagall simply watched Solomon quietly take a mouthful of the wheat and chew it in Rossa's lap (The Stolas owl, which Diamante named Ascalaphus, was instead being fed by Diamante. Unlike Solomon, who ate the wheat stalk and all, Ascalaphus only pecked at the grains on the end) through the window of the house.

"Ferocious, isn't it Severus?"

"I'm horrified that this is what's going to plague my backyard."

"Well, at least during the years of Hogwarts, it'll be plaguing the area near the forbidden forest."

"Maybe that'll teach a few of those rulebreakers."

"Speaking of students. Severus, which house do you think Diamante would be in?"

"He's quick-witted, Most of the time anyway. He knows what shouldn't be touched, and what's fine for him to simply grab and play around with. I'd say he'd either be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin."

"I do agree. Although I would hope for him to be in Gryffindor, and he most likely could by the way he acted even when the two beasts were aggressive to him, the amount of books he read in just two days makes me think he'll be put in Ravenclaw."

Both sipped their tea and looked back at the 2 kids playing around with the beasts.

"Then again, Severus, with the way he treats those beasts, and the way the beasts react to him."

"... He could be in Hufflepuff?"

"It looks like he'll be someone that'll make the hat think for quite some time."

"Perhaps."

The two looked at how Ascalaphus got angered by Solomon taking its treat and started to open up his wings. Diamante quickly covered Rossa as Snape and McGonagall quickly rose from their seats with their wands in their hands, making it to the door. What they were met with was the owl simply pecking at the honey badger, wings unmoving. The honey badger responded by snapping its jaws at the owl. Snape and McGonagall sighed as they saw Rossa and Diamante quickly separated the two and fed them more of the honey-covered wheat to calm them down. It seemed to be working. McGonagall looked at her wand, and then at Snape's and seemed to have realized something.

"I almost forgot. Severus, I heard how you have yet to buy Diamante the essentials."

Snape realized that he was too occupied teaching Diamante how to brew potions that he forgot all about it. He looked embarrassed after McGonagall pointed it out to him.

"I'll make sure to take Diamante to Diagon alley tomorrow."

"I hope you do, Severus. He'll be going to Hogwarts very soon."


	7. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (6)

Rossa decided to stay at Snape's house for the night in a spare room (Rossa started to make it her territory) and McGonagall said her farewell. Snape never felt this exhausted in years and was horrified to realize that taking care of 2 kids required the same mental strength as trying to follow Dumbledore's more dangerous orders.

"Morning, Rossa. Good morning, Sev."

"Morning Didi. Morning Sev!"

Snape saw the two kids emerge out of their respective rooms. Diamante had Ascalaphus perched on his head, grabbing his hair and gripping on the knots made in his hair.

"...Good Morning. Get ready, you two. We're going to Diagon alley."

Rossa's eyes lit up. Diagon alley! She shouted as she bounced up and down. Diamante looked confused. What's Diagon alley?

"It's a street with shops filled with magical things! Like clothes and sweets and toys!"

"That's just a normal street with shops. Those aren't special."

Rossa seemed disappointed by her brother's reaction.

"No, but they are!"

"Well you weren't really the type to explain things properly, so I'll just have to take your word for it."

Diamante faced Snape.

"Why are we going there for?"

"We need to buy your supplies for Hogwarts. Now go and get ready."

Rossa quickly went into the toilet to brush her teeth and wash. Diamante simply didn't move for a while. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"What."

"... Aren't you going to go wash as well?"

Snape knew what he meant. It started last Monday, during a particularly difficult potion brewing session, where it was concluded with Diamante looking at his reflection in the window, and then looking back at Snape.

'We can't do this anymore.'

Snape frowned at the statement

'What do you mean by that, Corvus.'

'We can't live like this anymore.'

Snape raised an eyebrow at that statement.

'We need to wash our hair. We need to wash our face. We need to brush our teeth. We can't live like this. We're not savages.'

Snape scoffed at him. Do it by yourself, I don't have time. Snape's statement only made Diamante more determined to convince Snape that hygiene was a luxury one should utilise to the full. He wasn't very direct with it though. Every time they ended their lesson in potion brewing, Diamante would always add 'we need to wash'. Snape retorted. '_You_ need a wash.'

'Actually, you need it more.'

Snape retorted with a simple smack to the back of the head.

But last night that was no longer possible when Rossa was present. Snape realized that Diamante's non-direct suggestions were nothing more than a warning for what was to come. It seemed that Snape denied the suggestion too many times, and thus fate sent Rossa as a last resort. Rossa asked McGonagall for some spare shampoo and toothbrush, and McGonagall simply laughed and complied with the request. Rossa stood in front of Snape, Shampoo in one hand and a toothbrush in the other.

'Look at you, Sev. You need to wash.'

I told you. Diamante nonchalantly added while he was reading his books by the fire. Already quite sick of Diamante's suggestions thrown at the end of every potion lesson, Snape looked at Rossa in the eyes and sighed. The silver eyes were burning with determination. She wasn't afraid to tackle this subject head-on.

Both Diamante and Rossa was shocked to see the lack of bubbles forming from Snape's hair, and they continued to pour more shampoo unto the adult's head until it started to bubble. Snape simply looked irritated by all of this commotion and wanted to end it quickly. The two kids were shocked once more when they started to pour water onto Snape's head, and the clean water came out dark and muddy. Snape himself was a bit shocked to see the water as well, but he kept it to himself.

Brushing teeth was less of a hassle since all you had to do was use toothpaste and rub it on your teeth until it foamed.

After Snape was finished with the hassle, he shouted at the two kids. There, I've done it, so don't either of you dare bother me with this! The two kids only looked triumphant in response. Snape didn't admit it out loud but it did feel pretty refreshing after it was all done.

"I'll do it after the two of you is done. Now go."

Diamante seemed satisfied with the answer and simply left to go prepare as well.

* * *

Diamante finally knew why Rossa was so excited, and why she told him that it was special from the other streets lined with shops.

It was exactly what Rossa said, a truly magical place.

"When did you come here?"

"I went with Minerva 3 days ago!"

Diamante looked on with wonders as well started to spin. He was trying to process all of what he was seeing. Snape decided to let him have his fun a little more.

"Come now, Diamante. We don't have all day."

Snape finally started to walk towards Flourish and Blotts, Diamante and Rossa quickly followed.

"My god, Sev! Look at all these books!"

Diamante was shocked to see the abundance of books, where few were even stacked into towers from the floor because of the lack of bookshelves. Snape handed him the list of books Diamante needed for Hogwarts.

"I do hope that you weren't thinking I would do all the work for you, Diamante."

"Of course not."

Snape heard Diamante say without reluctance. It looked like he was too entranced by the books.

Snape ended up finding most of the books needed for Hogwarts. Fortunately, they take less time in Madam Malkin's Robe For All Occasions as all they needed was to get measured for the right robe to wear. They take their trips to Scribbilus writing instruments and Potage's cauldron shop (Diamante was content with simply buying the Pewter Cauldron: Cheapest of the 3. He was surprised to see Snape buying the Copper one instead. Have some pride, he said. I don't want my time and effort wasted on some cheap-grade cauldron). By this time Rossa's glint in her eyes was replaced with sheer boredom. They decided to take a break at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to charge Rossa's enthusiasm (and patience) back up somewhat. A shop with owl cages lined in front of it caught Diamante's eyes.

"What's that shop, Sev?"

"Eeylops Owl Emporium."

"Are owls that important to wizards?"

"They're crucial for sending mail accurately and efficiently."

"Wow."

"We'll be going there soon enough."

Ascalaphus turned to meet Snape in the eyes, it's sapphire-like pupils glinting a hurt pride and betrayal. It seemed to have believed that Snape was trying to replace it with a generic owl.

"What for?"

"We'll need a cage for that feathered fiend of yours. If it's true what they say, then I don't want to see it imitate its owner's temper."

Diamante imitated Ascalaphus's expression, but snorted and grinned soon after.

"I'd rather have it act like me than see it act like it has an 11 ½ inch Hawthorn stick up its ass."

Snape frowned at Diamante's statement.

"You know, like you."

Two thoughts popped up in Snape's mind. One was teaching this cheeky and quite vulgar boy how to properly act. The other one was a question.

When did this damn child learn about my wand that much?

Snape simply grabbed Diamante by the waste and waited for Rossa to finish eating. Ascalaphus simply readjusted his position so that he was now standing on his owner's back.

As soon as Rossa finished her treat, Snape immediately started carrying the boy (and their bought supplies) towards the owl shop, with Rossa following. Snape dropped the boy in the middle of the shop and started walking around the shop, trying to find a medium-large cage for the owl. Kids in the shop had directed their attention to the unique owl perched back on Diamante's shoulders. It's colouration definitely differentiated Ascalaphus from the other owls in the shop. Diamante heard a few kids his age say to their parents 'Mum/Dad, I want that owl!' while pointing at Ascalaphus. It seems Ascalaphus heard it too, as he started to puff up his chest in response to the attention. Diamante even saw it look at the other owls condescendingly, as if to say that they'll never get this sort of attention in their lifetime.

"Excuse me, young boy!"

He saw a man in his 50s walk up to him. He wore a suit and a badge that simply said 'Manager'. The man was looking at the owl in awe.

"Would that be a Stolas owl?"

"Yes, sir….. I'm afraid it is."

The sudden question made Diamante a bit nervous, and he turned to see if Ascalaphus was getting agitated as well (That would've made Diamante's day hell). Luckily the owl looked more proud than anything.

"Would it be alright if you told me where you found it?"

"I'm afraid I can't sir, it was injured in an unknown forest."

The manager looked a bit said at Diamante's lack of suitable answers, but quickly regained hope in his eyes as he held up a camera.

"Well, would it be alright if I take a photo of it?"

Diamante looked at Ascalaphus, who seemed to have taken up a royal pose at the mention of a photo. Diamante snorted.

"I think he's more willing for a photo."

Thank you, dear! Diamante heard the manager say as a brief flash popped from the camera, and the photo emerged from the bottom. The manager showed the photo to the owl and the boy. It managed to be a good photo, as Diamante was shown grinning at the bird and the Stalos owl looking like everything was going according to plan.

"It would be ok if I put this on the wall, would it?"

The manager pointed to the wall behind the clerk. There were moving photos of different types of birds the manager seemed to have taken a photo of while going out for bird watching. It seemed like Diamante was the first child to be put up on the wall along with the owl (Several adults, looking like professionals, already took the first person to be put on the wall)

"Of course, sir. That would be amazing."

"Thank you, dear!"

The manager quickly headed to the back of the room. Snape told him once that moving photos were created by dipping them in a special solution. Guess he couldn't wait.

"Diamante, we're going."

Snape was near the door, with owl treats and the owl cage for Ascalaphus.

"Going!"

Diamante quickly followed Snape out the door.

"I guess that's all I need, right?"

Snape snorted at Diamante's statement.

"I never knew you would be this dull, Diamante. A new record for you isn't it."

Snape replied as he started to wave his wand in front of the boy's eyes. The young boy's eyes widened.

"I'm getting myself a wand!?"

"Of course. You're a wizard, are you not?"

"I don't know. With the way you treat me, I thought I was a house-elf with added intelligence."

Rossa giggled at Diamante's cheek, but then also shouted 'I want a wand too!'

"You'll get yours when it's your time to go to Hogwarts, Rossa."

Snape replied while slapping Diamante's back for his cheeky comment.

Diamante got excited by the prospect of getting his own wand. Is this where I'm getting it? The boy asked Snape as he pointed to Jimmy Kinnel's wonderful wands shop. Snape scoffed at the boy's question.

"Do not insult me, Diamante. That place is nothing more than a 4th rate wandmaker. Only a fool will go in there expecting a quality wand."

Snape continued to walk until they all arrived at the entrance of Ollivanders.

"Put Ascalaphus in the cage and leave him to me."

Diamante, curious, complied with Snape's order and walked in with Snape.

Inside the shop was an old man putting wands into boxes. He turns around to see the 3 people walking in.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Snape! Are you still using the 11 ½ inches, willow wood with dragon heartstring wand?"

"Yes, Mr. Ollivander."

Ollivander nodded and then met Diamante in the eye.

"Well, I guess you're here to get yourself a wand!"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well, then Mr. Snape, which hand do you use the most?'

Diamante looked perplexed at being called Mr 'Snape'. He quickly looked at Snape, looking insulted, and found that Snape was wearing an identical expression. Diamante chuckled when he realized that it was Snape that was annoyed with the boy being called Mr. Snape, more than him. Diamante turned back.

"With all due respect, Mr. Ollivander, the boy is no-"

Snape was cut off by Diamante.

"Left hand, sir."

Mr. Ollivander chuckled and started to walk around the room to search for a suitable wand for the boy to try out. Several measuring equipments started floating towards Diamante to start measuring his body.

"You're entire existence has grown to torment me, Diamante."

Diamante looked back, Smug. His grin resembled what Snape would give to the young boy.

"Maybe it's the hair."

Ollivander came back with a wand.

"11 inches, Holly wood, and phoenix feather. Nice and Supple. Try it."

Diamante became anxious as he held the wand in his hand. He didn't know what to do with it. Give the wand a whirl. Diamante imitated Mr. Ollivander's gesture. From the wand came out a violent burst of flame as Diamante let go instinctively from fright and pain. Mr. Ollivander pondered for a moment before taking the wand back where it came from. The door opened once more while Ollivander was out looking for another wand. Diamante turned around to see a boy around his age, followed by a man that looked like his father. Ollivander returned back with another wand.

"10 ¾ inches, vine wood, and dragon heartstring. Try it."

Diamante, in nervousness, whirled the wand a little harder than the last one. This only resulted in pushing Diamante back across the room. Diamante, after recovering from the daze, realized that he had landed on the boy. Diamante quickly rolled off the boy and stood up.

"DiDi!"

Rossa exclaimed across the room. Ascalaphus seemed frightened by the blast, as psychedelic colours started to bleed into his chest and inside of his wings.

"Sorry!"

Diamante exclaimed as he helped the boy stand back up.

"I'm sorry about that, are you alright?"

"Are you alright, my boy? Are you hurt?"

The adult also added in as he checked his son for any signs of visible injury. The boy simply laughed. Snape walked up to the two kids.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yes, we're fine. Well, at least I am. What about you, you were the one that was blown across the room."

Diamante's cheeks were red as he checked to see if he was really alright. This was the first time someone actively asked about his well being that wasn't his own sister.

"I'm alright, I think."

The boy looked at the wand Diamante was still holding onto.

"That's a nasty one, isn't it?"

"You could say that's an understatement."

The boy chuckled a bit more before extending a hand out towards Diamante.

"The name's Cedric. Cedric Diggory."

Diamante stood frozen to process what was happening. Severus nudged Diamante in the back to bring him back. Diamante realized what was going on and quickly grabbed Cedric's hand.

"Diamante Corvus."

The two boys walked back to the desk, as Cedric stood next to Rossa and Ascalaphus to wait for his turn. That's a weird owl you have there, Cedric exclaimed. Where did you buy it? Diamante shrugged and replied. I didn't, it was injured in a forest so I took care of it. Didn't looked like it wanted to leave so I guess that's less money spent on school supplies. Cedric laughed and simply said 'Wow'. Ollivander came back with another wand.

"14 inches, Willow wood, and unicorn tail hair. Try it."

Diamante whirled it once more, only to be met with the boxes of wands shooting out of their shelves, concluding with one of the boxes exploding and revealing a wand. Diamante's ears went red while his face went pale and slowly placed the wand on the table like it was a loaded handgun. Diamante looked to the ground in guilt as he heard a harmonious hum ring in his red ears. Ollivander simply laughed. It's alright, much worse has happened when kids whirled their wands. I'll clear this up soon. Ollivander started searching for another wand. A tricky one you are, he mumbled.

Diamante realized that the harmonious hum rang louder in his ears as the red colour faded. He focused on the hum and realized that it was louder when he faced the wand from the exploded box.

The wand looked like an amalgamation of a miniature jousting lance and a rapier. The wood was alternating between dark brown and black, depending on where the light hit the wand. Its handle was curved up and down with strange rune-like patterns on the side, but a straight could be run through the centre. Diamante slowly walked closer to the wand, and every step he took he could hear the ringing grow louder. A few more steps and he swore he could hear a voice buried in the hum.

_Aah, yes. I can see it in your heart, my boy. I can smell it in your blood. Come here, my kin. Take me in your hands, and I will be your faithful servant, sworn to protect you and drive you forward. I swear to you that I will be-_

Diamante grabbed the wand. It evoked a peculiar emotion inside him. Ollivander comes back with another wand. 12 ¼ inch, Ashwood, and Unicorn tail hair. He sees Diamante's entranced look at the wand in the boy's hand. The boy whirls the wand and Ollivander's face light's up.

_Your one and only wand._

The wand produces an orchestra that echoes throughout the room, as balls of light emerge from the tip of the wand and fly across the room.

"Well, isn't that a sign."

Diamante turns around to Ollivander, looking confused.

"I'm sorry, but what do you mean a sign?"

Ollivander smiled at the boy.

"You see, that's a tricky wand itself. Every other that tried the one was violently shot with the very light that came out of that wand. It seems like it matches you like a lock and key."

Diamante simply looked back at his new wand and smiled.

"It's a special wand itself since it's a wand that my friend has made. I merely helped him during the construction."

Ollivander's comment made Diamante curious.

"It's a 13-inch wand. Unfortunately, only my friend knows what the wood and core are. I've never seen wood like that myself in Britain, and my friend disclosed everything about the core. Stiff and unyielding."

Diamante grinned more as he looked at the wand.

"Thank you, sir!"

Cedric clapped his hands and smiled.

"Congrats, Diamante."

"Thanks, Cedric."

He felt a hand ruffling his hair very roughly.

"Congratulations, Diamante."

Diamante grinned from ear to ear.

"Thank you, Sev!"


	8. Diamante's Case File 1: Diamante (7)

Diamante decided to wait for Cedric to pick his wand. Severus, while complaining harshly, decided to comply. After all, this was the boy's first friend made in the wizarding world. Severus knew how important that would be.

It didn't take very long. In fact, they only waited for a short time. Ollivander asked him the same question. Right-handed, sir, Cedric answered. Ollivander looked up and down at the boy standing in front of him and looked back at the wand the old man was holding in his hand.

"Try this. 12 ¼ inches, Ash wood, and Unicorn tail hair. Try it."

Cedric whirled the wand, and it seemed luck was kind to him. Fireworks shot out of the tip of the wand as the triumphant sound of a brass band was heard in the distance.

"That's a new record for the quickest match!"

Ollivander exclaimed as Cedric's father came to the counter to pay for the wand.

The boys talked while walking the streets and soon parted ways. Cedric had gone to buy his supplies in reverse order of Diamante, and thus still had more essentials to find. See you at Hogwarts, Diamante! Cedric replied cheerfully. Let's hope we're both in the same house!

"Sev, what did he mean by the same house?"

Diamante asked Severus while they were returning home.

"There are 4 houses that you can be chosen for, depending on which quality of your personality is major."

"Quality of my personality? That sounds like an awfully bullshit way to sort people."

Severus sneered at Diamante's comment.

"And yet the sorting method stays the same since it's creation."

They finally leave Diagon alley and apparate back to their home. Diamante still can't get used to the nauseating feeling of the apparition. Rossa seems unaffected, however.

"So what are the 4 houses?"

"Slytherin, for the ambitious and cunning. Ravenclaw, the intelligent and wise. Hufflepuff, the fair and loyal. And…"

Severus's lips curled into a snarl

"Gryffindor… 'daring' and 'brave'."

Temperatures dropped every time he forced the Gryffindor's trait out of his mouth. Diamante looked at Severus from worry and saw that the man's face was scrounged up. Severus felt something suddenly wrapping around his hand, and looked to see that the boy had grabbed it, in an attempt to comfort the man.

"Are… are you ok?"

He felt something wrap around his other hand. Rossa was also grabbing his hand. Face also expressing worry.

"... I'm fine."

Severus gently took his hands out from their grasp. Diamante saw his eyes soften, then in a flash, it becomes the eyes of a man plotting something.

"Now that you have a wand, I believe it's also time to learn how to use it."

"You're planning something, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. Otherwise, we can't make an effective training regime, now can we?"

"I didn't mean planning in that way. I know you're plotting something."

Severus simply smirked. Diamante looked to Rossa and saw her trying to avoid his gaze. Her expression made her message clear. I'm sorry DiDi, but you're on your own.

"Oh fuck this."

The boy quietly whispered.

* * *

Diamante spent just as much time rolling on the floor or lying on the carpet as he was learning magic. At first, he simply learnt simply charms like wingardium leviosa, or engorgio, or diminuendo (Rossa started to laugh when she realized that the more her brother practised, the more he started to imitate Severus in both mannerism and accent). Then, Diamante looked through his textbooks to find duelling spells and asked Severus to teach him those types of spells as well.

'Are you sure?'

'Of course, Sev!'

Severus simply sneered. Diamante now knew why. The method of learning how to duel amounted to Severus hitting him around with onslaught of spells and Diamante trying his hardest to either dodge the spells, block the spells, fight back with his own spells, or just simply trying not to get his ass whipped. The number of times he simply collapsed near the fireplace doubled.

The spartan method seems to have been effective on someone like Diamante, as the sheer desperation to try and not wake up in his bed without any memory of yesterday meant that Diamante learnt fast enough to have already learnt half the 1st year subjects for defence against the dark arts and charms (He even managed to learn a couple of spells that were for 2nd year, simply by seeing Snape use it, such as expelliarmus and depulso). However, Diamante's progress in spells was nowhere near his progress in potions. Thanks to it being one of Severus's specialties and Diamante start learning how to brew potions much earlier than learning how to cast spells, Severus roughly estimated that he was already finished with 1st year, and was progressing in the middle of 2nd year.

"Once you're proficient enough in using spells, I'll teach you the more in-depth mechanics of spellcasting. Until then it will be more than enough for a 1st year to simply know which spell does what, without knowing why."

2 days were left before Diamante would be going to Hogwarts. Severus, being a professor at Hogwarts, had to leave tomorrow to get everything ready. Thus Severus and Diamante decided to pack up his luggage today, as Diamante needed severe help with organizing his things. Diamante was shocked to see Severus use his wand and his bare hand to move the salamander fire to an empty suitcase. The boy was even more shocked to have heard that Professor Dumbledore visited the house and enchanted the fire. He then revelled in the living room with joy when Severus told him that Dumbledore allowed Solomon and Ascalaphus to stay at Hogwarts with him, so long as Diamante made sure that they don't cause any problem. Severus emphasized the responsibility Diamante now held on his shoulders.

The rest of the day was spent trying to calm down Rossa, who was left with McGonagall's friend and was crying because of being left alone.

"It's not fair, I want to go to Hogwarts too! Why am I the one left behind!"

The two professors and her younger brother constantly apologized and gave reasons to why that was impossible.

"I'll come to visit you in the holidays. I promise."

Diamante felt incredibly guilty.

Thanks to Severus's help, Diamante managed to arrive in King's Cross with no trouble or problem. Yet one question remained.

Where in god's name was station 9 ¾?

He continued to look around, hoping to find other wizards.

When Diamante went past station 9, he saw 6 boys, a girl around Rossa's age and who he presumed to be their mother stands near the pillars. All of them had ginger hair.

"Alright now, it's your turn, Charlie!"

The tallest boy there started to line his cart up with the pillar. Diamante walked up to them.

"Excuse me, is this where station 9 ¾ is?"

The woman turned around and smiled.

"Yes, dear. Is this your first time to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well not to worry, it's Fred and George's first time going to Hogwarts too."

"Hello!"

"Hello!"

Diamante looked at the twins and smiled awkwardly

"Hey."

He remembered Cedric introducing himself first back in Ollivanders. Diamante reached out his hands

"Diamante Corvus."

"I'm George Weasley, and he's Fred."

"Hang on, I thought I was George!"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm George and you're Fred."

"Oh, cut it out both of you!"

Diamante looked confused at the twins as they each shook his hand, but turned to see the oldest run into the pillar, and was shocked to see him disappear right through. The 2nd oldest walked up to also extended a hand towards Diamante.

"Hello Diamante, my name's Percy."

"Nice meeting you, Percy."

As Diamante reached out to shake Percy's hand, the twins quickly ran up and loudly whispered into both sides of his ears.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you."

"Nor shake his hand."

Confusion returned to Diamante's face as Percy shook his hand, smiled, and followed his brother into the pillar. The youngest boy walked up a bit nervously.

"I'm Ron."

The twins took each of Diamante's shoulder once more.

"He's our family's little piglet."

One said

"Too young and too dumb to go to Hogwarts this year, but maybe he can try his luck in 2 years."

"Maybe 3."

Diamante hid his chuckle with a cough.

"I guess my name's been said twice. Let's make it a 3rd time. I'm Diamante."

It was the first time for Diamante to introduce himself this much at all, he was simply trying his best to copy what Cedric did, and extended his hand for a shake. It was tiring, that's for sure. He tried his best to hide it. Ron grabbed Diamante's hand and shook it. He seemed embarrassed due to what his twin brothers have said about him, but try to hide it.

"It's your turn now, boys!"

The mother called the twins. Diamante decided to line up behind Fred. Or George. He didn't know who was who yet.

"Oh, look at my manners. My name is Molly, dear. It was very nice meeting you."

Diamante smiled.

"Thank you for telling me where station 9 ¾ is, Mrs Wealey."

"Oh, no problem dear. I hope you'll be good friends with the twins. They may be a bit cheeky- (The twins both looked behind their back and grinned) - but they're good boys."

Friends, like Cedric.

Diamante smiled.

"Of course, ma'am!"

The twins disappeared into the pillar, and Diamante soon followed.

Diamante was amazed to see that there was a completely separate train station built behind the wall.

"Come on Diamante!"

"This way!"

He heard the twins shout. He saw a giant train bellowing out smoke at the tracks and several more kids getting on the train.

"Diamante!"

He heard Cedric voice as well, as Diamante saw him with his father.

"Cedric!"

Diamante shouted back by instinct. The twins also turned back to see who Diamante was shouting to.

"Hey, it's Diggory!"

They said in unison.

"You guys know each other?"

"Our Fathers know each other from work, so we see him from time to time. Hello, Mr Diggory!"

One of the twins shouted. Mr Diggory simply laughed and replied

"Morning boys, morning Mrs Weasley! You boys best be on the train now! By the sound of it, the train's going to be leaving soon.

The 4 boys quickly ran into the train (Diamante was dragged into the train by the cooperation of the twins and Cedric). They decided to quickly search for an empty room. Diamante thought he found one until he saw a girl sitting with her legs up in the corner. She had a very unkempt and dishevelled hair, two-toned with the dark brown hair as the base and few hairs on the front being orange-brown. She realized that Diamante was looking at her when she looked at him with her violet eyes. She was already frowning before she saw Diamante but then scrounged up her face even more. She quickly tried ignoring his gaze by looking at the floor, but then quickly leered back at Diamante.

"What do _you_ want?"

She shouted demandingly. Diamante decided it was best not to stay here any longer and turned back to the boys.

"Come on, Diamante! We found an empty room!"

"Coming!"

Diamante quickly ran to his friends.

A low hum rang in both of his ears as he passed one of the rooms.

He quickly glanced at the door window to see a boy his age sitting perfectly in the middle of the right seat, all alone. Green hair kept short and the front slicked back a bit. The boy seemed to have decided to glance out the door at the same time Diamante did, as their eyes briefly met. Diamante decided to ignore the boy as well and quickly caught up with Cedric and the twins.

* * *

_Thank you very much for reading up to this part. Sorry for the 8 chapters of boring slice of life building up to Diamante entering Hogwarts. I can promise you, however, that there will be more interesting adventures starting next chapter._

_I can't believe I have said this yet, but please leave a review, as I would very much like feedback on what was good and what needs improvement._

_Thank you!_


	9. Diamante's Case File 2: Hogwarts (1)

"That's one wicked-looking owl!"

"Is that actually a honey badger?"

The twins were firing off questions about Solomon and Ascalaphus. Diamante tried his best to answer just as quickly.

"He's Ascalaphus, he's a Stolas owl. Narcissistic git, this one."

"I don't actually know what this is. We just call it a honey badger because it looks closest to one."

Ascalaphus was too busy leering at Cedric's owl (Cedric named it Alfred), and Solomon was too busy sleeping. Cedric and the Weasleys tried petting Solomon and succeeded thanks to it not bothering to wake up.

"So what do you think will be in Hogwarts?"

Cedric asked.

"Charlie told me that we had to fight a troll to get accepted."

"We don't know if he's just pulling our legs, though."

"It probably is just a joke… right?"

It sounded highly unlikely, but Diamante decided to just humour the idea.

"If it is, then it's probably in a team. It's a troll, how could one 11-year-old beat a troll?"

"Then we should probably make a strategy."

"Me and George will grab its attention, Cedric and Diamante should give it an onslaught of spells. You guys do know spells, right?"

"I've got my dad to help me learn flippendo. Other than that I only know how to use lumos."

"My ass was used to wipe the floor so many times by Sev that I know enough spells to keep me alive."

Diamante's monotone made the other 3 turn around in confusion.

"Sev?"

"He's my caretaker."

All of their faces changed into a face of worry and sympathy when they heard the word 'caretaker'. They suddenly grew silent for a while.

"Hey."

Cedric called first. Diamante turned to face him.

"Your caretaker… he's…. he's not… you know…"

Diamante lifted one of his eyebrows in confusion, then connected the dots together.

"Oh, no! He's strict, but he's not mean. Actually, that's a bit of a lie. A bit's actually an understatement, now that I think about it."

The 3 faced each other, and non verbally sent messages with their expressions and eyes. They all turned together.

"Hey, maybe you should come to my house when the holidays come."

"Or ours!"

The Weasleys said in unison.

"Can't, I promised my sister that I'd come back over the holidays."

They looked at each other in shock at the mention of a younger sibling.

"Is your sister ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine."

"No, as in, your caretaker…"

"I know what you mean, and he's nice to my sister. He listens to everything she says, he's just a bit of a dick to me."

"Well, at least you'll be spending most of the year in Hogwarts, so you won't have to worry about him."

"That's where you're wrong. He works at Hogwarts."

All of their faces changed to a shocked expression.

"Diamante?"

It seems Cedric was the most proactive one when it came to worrying about his friends.

"Yes?"

"Stick to us when you're in Hogwarts. And don't hesitate to tell us if he's being a dick to you. Ok?"

We might not even be in the same class together. Diamante simply shrugged. Sure, though I don't know what you guys could do against to protect me.

"Oh, we got tricks, my dear friend."

"Enough to make sure he won't think about bullying you ever again."

"He doesn't actually bully me, you know. He's not _that_ mean."

"Say no more, we know how you feel."

It looked like they were jumping to conclusions. Diamante decided that he'd try and spend most of his time to try and clear up this misunderstanding in Hogwarts.

* * *

They all dressed into their robes upon the prefects' orders. Once they hopped off the train they marvelled at the scenery. The lanterns lit in the night sky definitely made the school more mysterious and magical.

"Welcome! My name is Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts!"

A voice boomed loud enough for every first-year to hear.

"He's giant!"

"He's massive!"

Diamante heard the twins say.

"Look at the beard!"

He heard Cedric say.

"What's living around here if it needs a guy like him as the groundskeeper?"

Diamante said. It was a wild guess simply from his giant size, but it did make the rest speculate.

"I heard that there's a giant squid living in the lake."

"But Fred, Charlie said that it was harmless."

"I don't think Dumbledore has the time to keep the forest safe alone, maybe that's why."

Cedric chimed in.

"You mean the forbidden forest?"

"Yeah, maybe that's why Dumbledore hired someone who could constantly keep the dangerous beasts at bay!"

Diamante got excited at these stories. Maybe I could ask Sev if I can go to the forbidden forest.

Hagrid started to speak once more before the whispering from the students grew any louder.

"Right then, we're going to the boats! This way, follow me, hurry now!"

Hagrid started to move, and the 4 quickly followed.

From 3 to 5 kids, depending on how small they were and how big the boats were, were sorted into the boats. The 4 kids managed to be seated in a 5 seater boat and were accompanied by the same green-haired boy Diamante met in the train. The same soft humming ringed in Diamante's ears for the entire journey to the boat. Maybe because it was soft, the hum slowly faded into Diamante's subconsciousness and he felt like he no longer heard it until he strained his ears for it. The green-haired boy managed to keep a blank poker face during the entire trip.

"Look at that castle!"

"Wicked, isn't it?"

"It's definitely a lot more majestic than what my mother told me."

The green boy added, slipping into the conversation without any effort. They all turned to face him.

"Name's David. David Squall. Nice meeting all of you."

"Wow."

Retorted one of the twins. Diamante was beginning to believe that it was Fred.

"What a natural player."

Retorted George(?). Cedric simply extended his hand.

"Cedric Diggory, nice meeting you too."

Diamante did the same.

"Diamante Corvus."

"Fred Weasley."

"Fred Weasley."

"Hang on, I thought I was Fred?"

"Then I must be George. Nice meeting you too!"

Only David's lips twisted into a smile, but he seemed to enjoy the little skit the twins played. He shook all of there hands and started to look at Hogwarts. The golden lights streaming out of the lanterns and reflecting off the surface of the lake was mesmerising. The night sky illuminated by the moon made tonight more charming and mystical (Diamante even saw some black horses with wings flying in the sky, but it didn't look like the others saw it). Everyone in the boat was entranced by the atmosphere. Except for Diamante.

"Why the fuck did they think 'Hogwarts' was a good school name?"

The tone made it clear it was genuine curiosity. David snorted while the others tried to stop themselves from giggling. It was such a sudden question that they didn't expect it. They couldn't really be offended either as it did sound like an actual question and not a jab.

"I don't know, maybe it's got a hidden magical meaning."

"I mean, I don't really think a wart of a hog is magical. Mundane, actually."

The twins suggested:

"Maybe we could put a petition to replace it with a better name!"

"Or just change it without the petition!"

Cedric also suggested:

"Maybe we could find out the meaning of the name and put it on the front gates. Then we won't have people asking about the name."

"Or make fun of it."

David seemed to have joined in.

Diamante felt someone staring at the back of his head (enough staring done by Severus before slapping the back of Diamante's head with papers seems to have made him grow some sort of sensories in that area), and quickly turned to face who it was. It was that same girl from the train, glaring at him from another boat (There was a blonde boy cowering at one end of the boat. Poor boy). She seems to have heard what they were talking about. Diamante quietly turned around and tried to ignore the gaze.

* * *

The continued their trips after getting off the boat. They followed Hagrid inside Hogwarts and up the winding stairs. Diamante felt unnerved by the fact that the paintings move on their own accord, but tried to ignore it.

Professor McGonagall waited at the top of the stairs. Because the 5 boys were at the front, Professor McGonagall instantly found Diamante and smiled at him. Diamante awkwardly smiled back, before she started to shout loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! Before you can join your schoolmates in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. During your stay in Hogwarts, the house you are sorted into will be like your home and family. Any triumphs will earn you points, and any rule-breaking will make you lose points. At the end of the year, there will be a house cup awarded to the house with the most points. Now, the sorting ceremony will begin momentarily."

Professor warmly nodded at Diamante before heading back into the great hall.

The mass of first years started to enter the great hall, as the choirs singed and the candles floated on the roof, enchanted to look like the night sky.

"Wow, look at the ceiling."

"Beautiful!"

"Majestic."

"Wicked!"

"What magic is that?"

The 4 looked at Diamante.

"Is that seriously all you could think of when you see that?"

George(?) replied.

"You got to admit, that's some high-grade magic."

"True."

"True."

"Fair."

"Understandable."

"Damn right it is."

Professor McGonagall stood in front of a chair with a pointy hat on top of it.

"Wait along here please."

Diamante was looking around the room when he met Severus in the eye. Severus merely gave him a smirk as he broke the eye contact.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, the best magic school in Britain. It's history ripe with secrets that are yet to be discovered, the school will let you grow into excellent witches and wizards! To both the new students and the old, I wish you nothing but the best this year. On that note, replacing the previous Defence Against the Dark arts teacher, who unfortunately have been fired due to certain circumstances (The boys heard whispers around them. Apparently he got fired because the bribe he took from a couple of Slytherins' parents were found out), I would like to introduce to you our new Defence Against the Dark arts Teacher Jonathan Blizzard!"

Dumbledore's voice boomed into the entire great hall. A man with short brown hair and wearing an ice-blue suit stood up. He was wearing shades so no-one knew where he was looking (They saw Severus glaring at the new teacher, however). Diamante suddenly felt horrifying screams like a violent winter wind ring in his ears. Diamante ignored the sound and reminded himself to thank the headmaster for the eternal flame. After the students clapped for Professor Blizzard, the new teacher sat back down in his chair.

"When you're name is called, I want you to come up, sit down on the chair. The sorting hat will be placed on your head and call out the house you will be sorted into."

Professor McGonagall shouted to the entire hall once more. The 5 boys heard whispers around them. I thought we had to do some kind of test! I would've failed if that was true.

The hat opened its mouth to sing.

"_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

Professor McGonagall produced a long paper list and started to read them out loud.

"Avery Hawksworth!"

Somewhere in the crowd, a boy emerged to be seated in the chair. The Sorting hat was placed onto his head. Around 3 seconds later the hat shouted at the top of its lungs.

"Gryffindor!"

There was a cheer from the Gryffindor table as the boy walked over to join them.

"Where do you think you'll be sorted into?"

Cedric asked the rest of the 4.

"I don't know"

Diamante replied.

"I'd say Gryffindor."

"Definitely not Slytherin."

The twins replied

"Why not?"

Diamante asked.

"Nothing good ever comes from Slytherin."

"A-men."

The twins replied.

"My mother came from Slytherin."

David replied in a monotone voice. The twin's face fell and they looked at each other, before turning back to David.

"We never said nothing _great_ came from Slytherin."

"Your mother must've been a great Slytherin."

"Just watch your mouth next time, it might just catch something bigger than your foot."

David replied, and staying true to David's advice the twins decided to keep their mouth shut for the rest of the sorting period.

"I feel like I might go in Gryffindor as well, or at least Hufflepuff."

Cedric replied.

"Cedric, Diggory!"

"Speaking of which, I guess it's my turn. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck, my dear!"

"Good luck, my dear!"

The twins finally replied after the silence.

"Good luck, Cedric."

David replied as well.

"Good luck."

Cedric sat on the chair as the hat was placed onto his head. The hat looked like it was thinking, as it was taking longer to announce Cedric's house. Cedric simply squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation.

"Look, the hat's actually thinking now!"

After the long pause (It really went for several minutes), the hat finally announced Cedric's house.

"Hufflepuff!"

The Hufflepuff table cheered as Cedric took the hat off. I'll see you soon, guys! Cedric shouted to the boys before heading off to join Hufflepuff.

"Merula Snyde!"

The girl from the train and the boat (both memorable for glaring at Diamante) emerged from the crowd as she sat on the chair. Before the hat could properly land on the girl's head it announced without hesitation.

"Slytherin!"

The Slytherin table roared with joy as Merula was smugly grinning ear to ear, running to the table.

"David Squall!"

"Look's like it's my turn."

David walked up to the chair with grace. The hat was pondering once more, but not as long as Cedric. After about a minute or two it ultimately shouted.

"Slytherin!"

David looked at the remaining 3 boys, waving his hand. I'll see you guys soon too. He calmly walked to the Slytherin table that was cheering for another addition to the house.

"We really shouldn't have said that."

"I know, right?"

"Guess that's something for you guys to regret over."

"Diamante Corvus!"

"And guess this is something for _me_ to possibly regret over."

Diamante walked up to the chair. Severus simply nodded at Diamante and smirked once more.

"Don't worry dear, just relax. I'm sure you'll do great in whichever house you're in."

Professor McGonagall quietly reassured Diamante. He smiled.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall."

She put the hat onto Diamante's head.

Diamante calmly closed his eyes and waited for the hat to announce his house.

It didn't announce it as quickly as he thought.

_What's with all the difficult kids to sort today?_

"Excuse me?"

_You've got enough courage to shine in Gryffindor. No wait, this is more like a lack of fear if anything. A little reckless. Quite perceptive for someone your age, and you've got quite the brain inside your skull, could do very nicely in Ravenclaw. You're willing to go for some underhanded method if it means victory, and I can see that you've done that quite a lot while you were growing up. Shame that you lack a powerful ambition, but then again your goal is a lot better than half the First years I see. Hmmm, difficult._

Diamante opened his eyes as he saw the tables all looking at him. He saw Fred and George whispering to each other while glancing at him.

"8 Sickles to say he goes in Ravenclaw."

"10 Sickles to say he goes in Gryffindor."

"You're on."

Are these guys seriously betting on which house I'll go into?

_But then again, there is a dominant trait in you. You have perseverance, living on the streets as harshly as you did and coming here is no easy feat, now is it? You've also got some talent in bonding with animals. Yes._

Diamante felt the gazes on he get stronger as the hat took more time thinking. Diamante looked at David, his eyes having a glint of hope that his friend would also be sorted into Slytherin with him.

_You're not easy to give trust to others, are you? But when you do, you make sure that your trust is well earned. Yes, I can see it in you._

Diamante felt a gaze stronger than David's and turns to see that Cedric is also burning with hope. How long has it been?

_I can finally see which house you'd be great in. It's-_

"_HUFFLEPUFF!"_

Cheers erupted from the Hufflepuff table, Cedric included. David sighed. Sorry, Diamante mouthed. David smiled and waved his hand. Don't worry, it's not your fault. Diamante looked at the Weasley twins, they were both perplexed at the hat's decision.

"I'd say since you guys both betted on which house I'm going to, and you guys both lost, you guys owe me 18 sickles."

Diamante walked over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down next to Cedric.

"Fred Weasley!"

The 3 boys watched one of the times walk up to the hat. Without hesitation, the hat shouted.

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers as Fred ran over to the table. Charlie and Percy congratulated their brother for joining the house.

"George Weasley!"

George also walked up to the chair, and the hat's answer remained unchanged.

"Gryffindor!"

Another roar emerged from the Gryffindor table. George quickly joined his brother to be congratulated.

The sorting ceremony was over and food appeared like magic on the tables. Cedric was shocked to see Diamante take plates worth of food and devouring it without break.

"Your caretaker didn't starve you, did he?"

He asked.

"Never. I'm just really hungry."

Diamante nonchalantly replied.

* * *

_Sorry, I lied. This chapter did become just another boring slice of life. I'll make sure that the next chapter will start to become more interesting, though._

_And yes, it might be weird to see someone like Merula Snyde (who should be a 6th year in the actual timeline) be a 1st year, but I really wanted to try and fuse/alter the Hogwarts mystery story with this story. Treat this simply as an AU and I hope it's entertaining enough for you guys to simply ignore it._

_As always, please leave a review as feedback would be very much appreciated, so I can no what you guys liked and what you guys would rather have me change to make the story more entertaining._

_Thanks for reading!_


	10. Diamante's Case File 2: Hogwarts (2)

It took a while for Diamante to realise that his robes have added golden highlights to match the colours of Hufflepuff. Diamante was amazed at the hidden function of his robe.

"I can't believe we got two hat stalls in Hufflepuff!"

"Technically it's 1 and ⅘. Diamante took exactly 5 minutes, Cedric took 4 minutes."

"I don't think that makes that much of a difference, to be honest."

"True."

The seniors at the front with shiny badges that had the letter P on the front of it were talking to each other while they were walking to the Hufflepuff common room. They entered the kitchen corridor and turned to face a stack of barrels.

"My name is Gabriel Truman, and I'm delighted to welcome you to Hufflepuff! Now, I need you all to remember this, as it's the only way to get into the common room."

Gabriel knocked on the middle barrel from the row second from below, in a rhythm that Diamante was not familiar with. The barrel lid opened.

"Now, come in!"

Gabriel disappeared into the barrel as the first years followed.

Suffice to say, the common room looked cozy as shit. Decorated with plants, yellow linings and copper metals, it had a very comforting atmosphere. Diamante was amazed at the types of plants growing in the room (It ranged from potion ingredients to herbs to even vegetables).

"Look, Diamante! Even our dorm room has a fireplace!"

Cedric exclaimed as they went to unpack their luggage. Indeed, there was an unlit fireplace built into the right side of the wall. Smaller than the one in the common room, but it was still a fireplace with a hefty size.

"Let's light it."

"No need."

"I know it's not cold, but I still feel better when I sleep if the fireplace is lit"

"That's not what I meant."

Cedric was perplexed at Diamante's statement as he saw his friend pick up one of his suitcases and pushed it into the fireplace. Cedric was then shocked to see fire below out from inside Diamante's suitcase, where Diamante had pulled his wand out and was thinking.

'_Tap the 2 locks on the bottom of the suitcase with your wand, then tap the on 2 places of wherever you want this suitcase to merge with.'_

Severus seemed to have enchanted the suitcase specifically for Diamante, and the young boy followed Severus's instructions. Upon completion, Cedric and Diamante saw the suitcase merge and disappear into the fireplace floors and walls, the only remnant that gave evidence that there was a suitcase here was the handle of the suitcase popping out from the floor.

'_If you want to turn it back into a suitcase, pull on the handle.'_

"Why do you even have fire in your suitcase?"

Cedric was bewildered with Diamante's possession.

"Because Briar's living in the fire."

"Briar?"

"It's my pet salamander."

On cue, the salamander emerged out of the pile of firewoods to look at its new home.

"So you have a Stolas owl, a weird honey badger…. Thing, and a fire dwelling salamander as your pet."

"I see nothing wrong with that statement."

"... Do you have Newt Scamander in your family line?"

"I wish. As far as I know, none of my family was wizards and witches."

* * *

They woke up the next morning and walked into the great hall for breakfast.

"Diamante! Cedric!"

"Over here!"

The twins called over to the pair of Hufflepuffs. Diamante saw the David was already seated next to one of the twins. He was waving at Diamante and Cedric to come join them as well.

"Do you know what classes you guys have first?"

Cedric asked the 3 as soon as he sat down. Diamante was already started to shovel baked beans into his mouth.

"We've got charms."

The twins replied in unison.

"Nice, that means you guys will be learning charms with us."

Diamante replied after swallowing what he shovelled into his mouth.

"I've got Herbology."

David sighed out. Seemed like he wasn't that confident with plants.

"Don't worry, David."

"You won't get anything dangerous on the first day of Hogwarts."

The twins comforted the only Slytherin on their table. David quietly nodded and bit into a piece of toast.

"Speaking of dangerous, wonder what we'll learn in charms"

"Wingardium leviosa, if anything."

Diamante replied.

Realizing that they only had 5 minutes before class started, they quickly finished whatever was on their plate and started to run out of the great hall.

* * *

A crowd had formed in the corridors, making the entire travel delay itself. Cedric and George were more worried about how late they would be, while Fred and Diamante were wondering what the entire commotion was about. Through the gaps between the people, Diamante sees the same blonde boy that was cowering on the boat, sitting on the floor. His face in shock. His name was something starting with B. Ben? Diamante also sees the girl with brown and orange hair stomping through the crowd and continuing her way. He heard the crowd whisper.

"Did you hear what she called him?"

"She just called him a mudblood, didn't she?"

"Slytherins, I tell you. Not to mention she's the daughter of those death eaters."

"You mean the ones that made the front page, the Auror killers?"

"Their both Snydes, they have to be."

Mudblood? Death Eaters? Aurors? Diamante decided to ask Cedric and the twins in Charms.

* * *

Accurate to Diamante's guess, the first-years year learning how to cast Wingardium leviosa. Diamante quickly asked his friends what he heard in the corridors, explaining why there was a crowd forming in the corridors to inform them why he was curious.

They were shocked in response.

"Did she really call him that!?"

Cedric exclaimed.

"Those bloody Slytherins, I tell you."

"Nothing but trouble. Except for David, of course."

Diamante started to tell apart who was who by their tones and the slight difference in personality. Fred was the one badmouthing the Slytherins and it was George that was agreeing with fred while excluding David from the so-called bad mass.

Cedric decided to explain what the terminologies were while Fred and George took their times insulting Slytherins behind their back. He started off with the easier one.

"Aurors are the enforcers of magical law. They work for the ministry of magic. They defend people against the dark arts."

"Dark arts?"

"Magic centred around harming people."

"Sounds awfully wicked."

"I don't know if you're being sarcastic with that one. Anyway, Aurors were the ones that fought the Death Eaters, along with other people like Dumbledore."

"I was actually wondering, what is a Death Eater?"

"They're the ones who served the Dark Lord."

Cedric saw Diamante scrounge his face up in confusion at what Cedric called 'the Dark Lord'.

"He's the evilest and most dangerous wizard to have been in Britain. He killed not just muggles and muggle-borns, but also any other wizards that stood in his way."

"Muggleborns?"

"Non-magical parents."

"Oh, so like me."

"Yeah. He was defeated by Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Thanks to that, the wizarding world had peace for 8 years."

"Huh."

"Of course, the first 3 years still weren't that peaceful. You see, the Dark Lord was gone, but his subordinates still remained. Most were captured, while others fled. One of them, however, was neither. He stood his ground and made sure that the Death Eaters who remained faithful to the Dark Lord were uncaught. A lot of Aurors still died because of him. That was until 3 years after the downfall of the Dark Lord. People say that he was trying to kill his own family, so there was nothing that will stop him or grab him by the ankle. They found he was targetting, blown to smithereens. He and the people inside were nowhere to be found. With that the Death Eaters had no one to protect them, so the Aurors closed in on them and were finally able to arrest them."

"Who was he?"

"They don't really know. The most of the Death Eaters didn't know what he actually looked like and the few people that did know kept their mouth shut about him. In the end there was nothing that came up to tell who he really was. The Death Eaters simply called him Ravana."

Ravana.

_Hide here until everything is over. When it does, run away as fast as you can and forget everything that happened here. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, keep your sister safe and live. Could you promise mother that you'll do that, Diamante?_

_Carelessness is the bane of all existence. Isn't that right, my sweet Diamante?_

Diamante saw a man with his arms outstretched, smiling. A warm smile, inviting and welcoming. A familiar smile.

It was a smile that Diamante would rather die than see again.

_Come here, my sweet Diamante. There's no need to be afraid like that. Give Rossa to me, and follow me._

Please, Diamante cried. Please, take me instead. Rossa doesn't know anything.

"Diamante? Are you alright?"

Rossa has nothing to do with this.

"Diamante?"

Take me instead

"Diamante?"

Diamante realised Cedric was gently shaking his shoulder. It seemed that Diamante suddenly went unresponsive, and even Fred and George was looking at Diamante with concern. Diamante cleared his throat, his mouth felt dry.

"Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Are you sure?

"Yeah, I'm sure. What's a mudblood?"

Diamante quickly changed the subject before the 3 could try and delve deeper. Cedric saw that Diamante wasn't going to be willing to talk about it, and simply answered Diamante's question.

"Mudbloods are insults, derogatory terms used to describe muggle-borns. It's a word no one should use, but some wizarding families think they have the right to call people that purely because they come from actual families that used magic for a long time, and that makes them so-called superior. They're what they call pure-bloods. Honestly, there's nothing superior to them. They're just bunch of idiots that use blood as an excuse to look down on others and feel better about themselves."

Cedric seemed to get angrier the more he explained. He stayed silent after explaining the term, focusing on trying to use Wingardium leviosa on the piece of feather Professor Flitwick has handed out. He was failing due to stressing on the wrong syllables, and his wand movement was pretty terrible.

"Hey, Cedric."

"Yeah?"

Cedric turned to look. Diamante held his wand in his hand.

"Repeat after me. Wingardium levi_o_sa."

Swish and flick, slow as possible while casting the spell so that Cedric can properly copy the movement. Diamante's feather floated off the ground like Newton's theory wasn't worth shit to it. Cedric looked amazed at Diamante's effortless levitation charm. Professor Flitwick seemed to have thought the same.

"Amazing, Mr Corvus! I haven't seen a first-year cast the levitation charm this flawlessly in years!"

Everyone stopped their practice to look at Diamante's feather floating.

"What can I say, sir. I worked my ass off for a lot of the charms to work."

With that, Diamante was the first one to earn 5 house points to Hufflepuff in charm class. It wasn't only Cedric that was trying to copy Diamante's movement anymore. Fred and George were trying to follow as well, along with a few other students repeating Diamante's movement.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and as always, reviews are very much welcome!_


	11. Diamante's Case File 2: Hogwarts (3)

The Rest of Monday in Hogwarts went without a hitch. It was only 4 lessons of Herbology (They met David in the corridors after Charms class. His green hair was dishevelled and he had few light scratches on his cheeks. He looked like he was lost in thought but managed to wave back at the 4 boys. Both Cedric and Diamante found out why he was in such state when they managed to get hit by the needles of the spiky bush. One of the needles managed to get lodged in Diamante's goggles as they incinerated the spiky bush from a relatively unsafe distance. After they completed their tasks 5 minutes early, the two were allowed to walk outside and scream at the top of their lungs. What the fuck was that! I don't know! Look, look at my fucking goggles Cedric, that could've been my goddamn eyes! Why would they think this was safe for the first years! I have no fucking clue! The entire first year heard about them screaming, with Fred, George, and David jumping on the news to make fun of them. Hey look, it's the human howlers! Careful Fred, I heard the black-haired variant comes with the new created foul mouth function!), History (The professor was simply droning on the lecture, ignoring the fact that the majority of the students were no longer paying attention. Cedric was amazed that Diamante was focusing on the lectures until he realized that his friend was sleeping with his eyes open when Diamante dropped his quill pen to the floor and didn't pick it back up), and Flying (Cedric found himself to be a natural at flying. He simply said 'up' in a commanding way and the broom flew into his hands without hesitation. Diamante imitated Cedric, only to have his broom hit him squarely in the face. Two laughs were heard. One was from Cedric, and the other was in front of Diamante. The 2 boys looked to see that it was the Slytherin Girl- Merula Snyde- laughing at Diamante's slapstick approach to the broom. She fared no better, as her broom hit her face too. Her face went red as she glared at Diamante, who was grinning ear to ear at the arcane retribution. His second attempt at commanding the broom to fly into his hands resulted in an incomplete success, as while the broom managed to fly into his hand, it flew with such force that Diamante was too busy grabbing his hand in pain to grab the broom. _UP_. Diamante said once more, and he managed to finally have the broom fly into his hand and be grabbed. Flying on the broom was much more of a pain. Cedric had no problem, Cedric was a prodigy. Cedric can stop laughing like an asshat and help me ride this thing. Diamante managed to fly alright with Cedric's assistance, though he was still in the not-doing so good category of the students).

Tuesday went in a blink of an eye too. Herbology was simply a lecture about the venomous tentacula. 5 points were awarded to Hufflepuff, while 8 points were awarded to Ravenclaw. Cedric and Diamante simply learned more charms during History and Charms was a repeat of Wingardium leviosa due to not many people getting it the first time.

Wednesday morning was potions, which the Hufflepuffs had with the Slytherins. While Fred and George headed over to Flying, Cedric, Diamante and David headed down the castle to the dungeons. They were turning around the corner when they heard someone shout.

"SAY IT, SAY I'M THE MOST POWERFUL WITCH IN HOGWARTS!"

* * *

She had enough with people whispering 'Death Eater' behind her back. Death Eater was the reason why her parents were taken away. Death Eater was the reason why her house was empty, why her aunt was only tolerant to take care of the bare minimum for her. Death Eater was the reason why she couldn't go outside without people waiting in front of her house, looking at her with vengeful eyes that scared her. Notes left at her house that threatened her already distraught wellbeing. She barely managed to go out for school supplies because of Death Eaters. She earnestly believed and hoped that this whole disaster would be left behind when she went to Hogwarts. Maybe she could make friends, forget the whole affair, not be lonely anymore. But reality was cruel to her once more when she heard them whisper her name.

_She's the Snyde girl, isn't she?_

_The Auror killers?_

_Yeah, that one._

_My father died because of her parents._

_My mother died because of her parents._

It was clear no one was willing to be her friend.

The number of people whispering 'Death Eater' behind her back only increased after she called that Gryffindor kid named Ben a 'mudblood'. She blurted it out in anger when she couldn't bear it anymore. She saw him, she saw his eyes just cowering at everything.

It just reminded her of what she thought of herself as. A coward.

Every time she felt guilty she remembered what her mother told her.

_Those filthy mudbloods were never meant to be in our world, much less even Hogwarts. Digging their sick roots into our history. But the Dark Lord will fix us of this little infestation. We won't have to worry about them destroying our peace anymore._

That was what her mother said to Merula when she found out they were Death Eaters. She was scared of her mother for the first time. But her mother's soft and proud tone and warm eyes calmed her down much quicker.

They don't deserve to be here anyway, she told herself. I'm not the one wrong here. But then she kept seeing Ben around the corner, following her. She tried to ignore him but the fact that he was always around made her like everything was her fault. She didn't like that. She tried to confront him about it, but the moment she did he ran away. Constantly.

This was the first time she would take potions. She was proud of her skills in brewing potions, her parents constantly praised her for her skills. Not only that, it was Professor Snape, the head of Slytherin. It was her chance to finally shine, prove to them that she wasn't simply a daughter of Death Eaters, of murderers. She was going to show them that she was Merula Snyde, the best witch in Hogwarts. She was going to make sure that no one dared to whisper Death Eater behind her back.

That's when she heard it.

"Christ, we have potions with that Snyde girl."

"You mean the daughter of those Death Eaters?"

She couldn't take it anymore. She whipped around. 2 Hufflepuffs flinched by her sudden turn.

"What. Did you call me."

One of them remained silent and looked to the floor. The other one looked more stubborn and stood his ground.

"Daughter of those Death Eaters. It's true."

She clenched her fists.

"I'm not. Take it back."

"Fine, I take it back."

It wasn't enough. She was still angry.

"Say I'm the most powerful witch in Hogwarts."

"What? No."

"Say it."

"I'll take back what I said earlier, but I won't tell a lie."

"It's not a lie, so say it."

"It's a lie, you can't be the best witch in Hogwarts."

"I can, and I am."

"No, you're not. I'm not gonna say it."

She had enough. She pulled out her wand.

"SAY IT, SAY I'M THE MOST POWERFUL WITCH IN HOGWARTS!"

There were more footprints coming her way. Perfect, now there were more audiences.

She saw 3 kids run around the corner. One was from Slytherin, her house. A green-haired boy named David Squall that the Slytherin students called a prodigy, and a talented student. They say that there was a reason why the hat took that long to announce his house. He was her competition and the one that got on her nerves. Since they were always in the same class, she was naturally trying to compete with him. If I can beat him. No, if I can't at least have him acknowledge me as his rival, I'll be closer to being the best witch in Hogwarts. But he always ignored her. Not today, he'll acknowledge me now. The one in the middle was Cedric Diggory. Another one that took a long time for the hat to sort, he was already becoming popular with the students. Charming, nice, friendly and not bad with charms, he was already starting to make a name for himself.

And then there was the boy on the right to Diggory. Diamante Corvus. She remembered him for staring at her on the train, almost as if he was looking down on her. Then there was him making fun of Hogwart's name. He made his friends join in as well. Just a troublemaker, She thought on the boat. He'll fail and leave Hogwarts sooner or later. But then the hat took 5 minutes to sort him into a house. Then she heard from the other first years that he managed to cast Wingardium leviosa with utmost accuracy in one try. He and Diggory got reckless with the stinging bush, but they completed the task the earliest with 5 minutes left. They also say how he and Diggory used that time to simply scream at the top of their lungs outside. Although he was bad at flying, at least he managed to summon the broomstick in the end. She didn't. She spent most of her time trying to make the broomstick listen to her, and spent the rest by causing a silent tantrum. They were all making a name for themselves in Hogwarts. In a way that was completely different from her. No one talked behind _their_ backs. At least, not yet.

They were looking at her, and then to the 2 Hufflepuffs. Diggory spoke first.

"What's happening here?"

The stubborn Hufflepuff that stood up to her answered.

"Cedric, she's threatening us into saying she's the most powerful witch in Hogwarts, even though she's not!"

The other Hufflepuff quickly ran to hide behind Corvus and Diggory.

"She's that Snyde girl, right?"

Corvus was the one asking now. Merula glared at him. It was Squall that replied.

"Yeah, Merula Snyde. Slytherin. Not even the Slytherins are particularly fond of her due to her personality already ruining our reputation. Well, some are fine with her. You know, the kind that thinks purebloods are superior"

She wasn't fond of that. They were also children of Death Eaters. But they were the ones that didn't get their names spread out on the front page of the Daily Prophet. They still had parents living with them. It wasn't fair.

"Merula, I don't know what's going on, but I don't think picking on other people is going to be a good way to prove that you're the best witch in Hogwarts."

Diggory tried reasoning with her. This only made her grip onto her wand more tightly, pointing at Diggory this time. She saw Diamante put his hand in front of Diggory like he was trying to protect him.

"Besides, there's way more people more powerful than her in Hogwarts. Professor Sprout, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, the entire 7th-year student. Heck, even Diamante's probably better than you. I bet you can't even cast Wingardium leviosa effortlessly in one try!"

She couldn't. Despite practising at home, it took her 3 tries to actually get the feather to float in Charms class. But she decided to convince herself that it was just a fluke on Corvus's part. Corvus frowned at the stubborn Hufflepuff.

"Shut the fuck up asshat, you're not helping."

"It's true though, it took her 3 tries to get her feather to float."

It was Squall replying now. Even her competition was siding with the Hufflepuff's argument. Squall received glares from both Merula and Corvus.

"And I bet yours was 3 as well, David. You're not helping either."

Squall did it in 2 tries, and he proudly admitted it.

"2, actually."

Merula saw Corvus simply frown at Squall before looking back at Merula's wand. Diggory decided to rerail the issue back on track.

"In any case, let's just put that wand down. There's nothing you can do with a wand right now to prove you're the most powerful witch in Hogwarts."

But there was.

"Yes, there is."

She looked at Corvus. 2 to 3 people were siding with him. That meant that if she beat him here, that would make her better than him. Corvus may have been a better caster of the levitation charm, but Merula was going to be a better dueller. One jinx, she knew best. The knockback jinx that her mother and father taught her. It was something she was proudest of, and people knew how good she was at it when she cast it at Ben. There was no way Corvus could beat it.

"_Flipendo!_"

White light shot out of her wand, targetting Corvus. There was no way Diamante could be a better dueller than her.

Then she saw Corvus simply roll to the side, the light missed him.

"_Depulso!_"

Merula suddenly felt her body get pushed backwards, travelling a few feet before landing on her rear. Everyone in the corridor saw what happened. Merula cast the first spell and Corvus cast the last.

This had got to be a fluke.

Corvus got up from his roll and didn't say anything. Merula felt her ears heating up.

"Cedric was right, Snyde. There was nothing you can do with your wand to prove you're the most powerful witch in Hogwarts."

Squall was the one who repeated Diggory's words. Squall made Diggory's word sound harsher. Merula stood up and was about to say something when she heard a voice behind her.

"Mr Corvus. Is there a reason why Ms Snyde was flying across the dungeon corridors?"

She whipped back to see Professor Snape looking at Corvus.

"Professor Snape!"

"She tried to cast flipendo on me, so I used Depulso by reflex."

Corvus said without hesitation. Merula saw Diggory and the 2 Hufflepuffs freezing in fear. Squall was also looking nervous, but mumbled loud enough for her to hear 'I-I can testify for that, sir.' She expected Corvus to get an earful for casting a duelling charm so openly, even though she was the one who initiated it (She relied on her status as a Slytherin to get out of trouble). Instead, she just heard him sigh.

"Just get into the Potion classroom, Corvus."

"Yes, sir."

And Potion class began.

* * *

"Diamante, where did you learn a third-year spell?"

"From Sev. If you get your ass whipped enough times you learn things like this much faster."

Cedric and David looked at Diamante with extreme concern. Diamante quickly clarified.

"I asked Sev to teach me how to duel, and he just went with the old sink or swim."

The 2 quietly nodded. The 3 took a table with 5-6 seats (They all sat on one side: David on the left, Cedric in the middle, and Diamante on the right, just like how they walked). Diamante saw that Merula sat on the same table, near him (There was a Hufflepuff girl with blonde braids sitting near where David was). Her ear was red and she was simply glaring at him.

"On to the more important matter, I'm not the only one that's scared of our potions professor, right?"

Cedric was the one asking the question.

"Trust me, you're not the only one."

David replied.

"He's you're head of the house, right?"

"Doesn't mean he still doesn't make things scary."

"True. Diamante, what about you?"

"I was. But you get used to it."

David and Cedric looked at Diamante with a perplexed expression. What. Nothing.

"There will be very little foolish wand-waving in this classroom. In here, you will learn the subtle art and science, of potion-making. Put in the right focus and effort, and I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death. If you are not willing to put in the right focus and effort, then I suggest that you leave this classroom right now."

Cedric whispered to Diamante.

"Are you sure you can get used to this?"

"I mean, he's not that different from how he normally acts, so yeah."

"Wait…"

David and Cedric were starting to realize something when Professor Snape calls out to Diamante. Diamante saw Professor Snape smirk very quickly, before retaining the combination of frowning eyebrows and thinned lips.

"Corvus, I see that if you have the time to whisper to your friends, you're either unwilling to learn properly or you are confident enough in your skills. I wonder which one it is."

Diamante heard a giggle behind him. He didn't need to turn to know it was Merula.

"What ingredients do you need to create the cure for boils?"

Merula knew this one and saw Diggory and Squall trying to quietly find out from their books. Both of them had a very nervous expression. She felt delighted to see the expression on Squall for once but didn't know what sort of expression Corvus wore as he was turned away from her. She was confident it was something similar to his 'friends'.

"6 snake fangs. _Crushed_. 4 _boiled_ horned slugs. 2 porcupine quills."

Guess Corvus did know how to make it. Merula frowned a little when she saw Diggory and Squall let out a small sigh.

"...What ingredients do you need to create the antidote of the confundus charm?"

Merula didn't know this one, but she also expected Diamante to not know this one either.

"2 ground scarab beetles, 1 whole ginger root, cut. Diced ginger roots will make brewing the potion faster. 1 cup of armadillo bile, and 2 days or older armadillo biles will make the effect of the potion stay longer."

He couldn't be right, Merula thought, not even I knew that. There was a long silence from Professor Snape as she heard her heartbeat louder in anticipation.

"... 3 points to Hufflepuff."

He was right. Merula saw Diggory's face fall in amazement and disbelief, and David looked like his mind had been blown to Jupiter. She saw the Hufflepuffs look at each other, then look back at Diamante.

"What do you get when you mix the leaves of a venomous tentacula and the heart of an Ashwinder together and heat it at 230 degrees Celcius for 29 minutes?"

It makes nothing. This was a trick question. It had to be. Merula was confident that Professor Snape was trying to trip Diamante up with this one.

"You make a catalyst that greatly shortens the time taken for potions that have to be stewed for a long period of time to be fully complete, like Felix felicis and Polyjuice potion."

He was lying. He had to be.

"... 2 points to Hufflepuff. Sit down."

Merula was shocked to see that Corvus knew all this. She saw him sit back down and saw his blank expression. He wasn't even fazed by this. She saw everyone looking at Diamante.

"Unless you have the skills to answer my questions like that, I suggest that you simply keep your mouth shut and try your hardest to learn. We'll be learning how to brew the Wiggenwald potion."

Everyone was silent as Professor Snape explained the properties of Wiggenwald potion, the ingredients used to brew the Wiggenwald potion, and step-by-step instructions."

"... You may now start brewing the potion."

Everyone headed off to grab the ingredients needed and returned to their seats.

"We want to ask you something."

Cedric whispered into Diamante's ear. Diamante saw Merula trying to subtly strain her ears to eavesdrop.

"Fire away."

"Is your caretaker…."

Merula couldn't hear what they were whispering about, as Corvus was purposefully clinging glass bottles together to stop her from hearing.

"Yeah. It's him."

Diamante whispered back. Cedric, in a horrified expression, turned back to David and nodded. The colour of David's face started to drain out.

"You are ok, right?"

"Having the time of my life. Try stirring the mixture clockwise three times, then anti-clockwise twice every time you add in the salamander blood."

During their Potion lessons, Severus started to tell him methods that deviated from the textbooks. Sceptical at first, Diamante realised that they produced much better results than what the textbook's instructions told him. He decided to favour them over the books.

Cedric and David complied without asking. He was the one that earned Hufflepuff 5 points, they trusted him more than the books. Merula heard this but was suspicious, and decided to simply follow the book. Just because he was excelling theoretically, didn't mean he was good on the practical side as well.

"Diamante, the colour turned violet instead of being red. Did I do something wrong?"

Merula heard this and smirked. Guess they were wrong.

"No, that's what's meant to happen. Use a mortar and pestle to crush the 5 lionfish spines and add it into the mixture. Here."

Diamante handed over the mortar and pestle he used. Cedric took it and followed Diamante's instruction.

"I'm trusting you here."

"I know, you're in capable hands."

After use, Cedric gave the mortar and pestle to David as he took a peek at Diamante's cauldron (Merula did the same).

"Dude, our potions orange, it's supposed to be yellow."

"Only if you follow the textbook. Just add 5 uncrushed lionfish spines."

"Are you sure about this, Diamante?"

David was starting to get nervous too.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Merula started to worry less and less about Diamante doing better than her. His colour was all wrong, he was bound to be failing right now.

"Alright, dip the spatula in flobberworm mucus and just put it into the cauldron. It should go pink."

It did for all 3 of them. At this point, Professor Snape was looking at their potion behind their back. David and Cedric's face fell as Merula simply cackled at their situation. Professor Snape merely looked at their potion, looked at Diamante, smirked, and continued walking.

"You are absolutely sure about this, right?"

"Diamante we need to know."

"Of course. He didn't insult you or anything. Now stir it counterclockwise, clockwise, then counterclockwise again. It should go yellow."

As the potion's colour returned to what it should be, the 2 boys gave a sigh of relief.

"Now add 2 spoonfuls of honey water."

They followed without question once more.

"It's not Turquoise blue."

"Doesn't matter. Add 5 drops of boom berry juice."

They decided that since it wasn't really going wrong, and they have already gone too far, they might as well just follow it without question.

"Now stir it clockwise twice."

They proceeded without any question.

"Time it for 15 minutes for me, will you? I'm still pretty shit with time."

15 minutes? Merula thought. It's supposed to be 30 minutes. She quietly smirked to herself. She really didn't have to worry so much about Corvus after all. She'll be able to prove to these 3 that she was better at potion brewing with this wiggenweld potion. They'll have no choice but to acknowledge her.

"Alright, 15 minutes are up."

"Ok, cool, now turn the heat off and bring exactly 3 separate pints of moondew for me."

David quickly got up and went to the shelf to find moondew and 3 small cups. Professor Snape saw all of this exchange from his desk and snorted.

"Here's 3 pints of moondew."

"Alright, we each take a cup of it and pour it into our potion. It should still be hot enough. Stir it clockwise once."

They followed Diamante's instructions and saw their ice-crystal blue wiggenwald potion turn deep emerald.

"And we're done."

"It's a different colour."

"Is it deep emerald?"

"Yeah."

"Then we did great. You don't have to worry about it. Put it in a bottle and put a stopper on it."

"Are you sure? Isn't it suppose to be light green?"

"If it's light green then it's sub-par. Deep emerald means that the effects will be stronger and have a longer duration."

"... Ok."

They decided to trust Diamante on this.

At this point, Professor Snape came over to see their products, finished 15 minutes earlier than the rest. He took Cedric's bottle (Cedric audibly gulped when Professor Snape picked his bottle) and examined the colour.

"... Which one of you instructed the others to make this?"

"I did, sir."

Diamante said without hesitation. His friends looked at him with horror and extreme concern while Merula looked at him and cackled. The Hufflepuff girl simply looked at Diamante, mixing worry with a chance for gossips.

Professor Snape simply took the bottle and walked to the middle of the class, a grin on his face that looked a little malicious. Cedric's face went a bit blue.

"Stop what you're doing and look here."

Professor Snape announced, and everyone quickly turned to give him their undivided attention.

"Raise your hands if your Wiggenwald potion looks like this colour."

Only Diamante and David's hands were raised. The others were perplexed to even think that someone already finished making their Wiggenwald potion.

"For those who have managed to make their Wiggenwald potion look like this…."

Professor Snape paused and saw Cedric and David hold their breaths. Diamante looked fine, and Professor Snape knew why.

Merula was anticipating an onslaught of verbal insults thrown at the 3. '_You have managed to ruin the most simple and beginners potion, a feat that can only be managed by someone with a brain of an underdeveloped ape._"

"You have managed-"

Here it was

"-by either through sheer luck or otherwise-"

Merula started to grin and look at Diamante. You failed, Corvus, she thought.

"- to make a top-tier quality Wiggenwald potion. However, do not become overconfident that you have stumbled upon such luck. You may fail after relying on such dumb luck again and make yourself look like a bumbling idiot in the next potion lesson."

Professor Snape looked at the 3 while speaking.

Merula's face fell as she heard what Professor Snape said. She saw Corvus simply saying to his 2 friends. I told you so. Squall and Diggory couldn't keep their surprise at receiving a (backhanded) compliment from Professor Snape. Their open mouth slowly twisted into a grin as they looked at each other. Professor Snape returned Diggory his bottle and walked back to his desk.

This couldn't be happening.

"Dismissed, I can no longer handle any of you today."

At the end of the potions lesson, Slytherin ultimately lost a total of 3 points (lost 12 points, gained 9 points) and Hufflepuff lost a total of 9 points (lost 14 points, gained 5 points). Professor Snape ended up shouting at more Hufflepuffs than Slytherins. Despite the loss, it was an uproar in a positive kind.

"Did you see Diamante?"

"5 points and he didn't even lose any!"

Words started to spread, along with Diamante's use of Depulso on Merula.

* * *

"You have brewed a textbook flawless Wiggenwald potion, Ms Snyde. 4 Points to Slytherin."

She should've been happy with Professor Snape's compliment. She even earned her house 4 points.

But she wasn't. Not after what Corvus did with his Wiggenwald potion.

"It's amazing to see a first-year student brew a potion of this quality on their first tr-"

"Is it better than Corvus's?"

She knew he was just saying that because he was the head of Slytherin.

"Is it better quality, sir?"

There was silence in the air as the students were leaving. Merula slowly clutched at the end of her robes as she waited for Professor Snape's answer.

"... I'm afraid not."

"... Thank you, Professor."

That's all she could muster as she stormed out of the door to her next class.

Damn Corvus. Damn him.

It wasn't just his skill that infuriated her. It was his nonchalant reaction and the fact that he kept ignoring her for the entire lesson. Just like Squall. No, more than Squall. Even Squall,- who was distant in every class unless it was with those Weasleys, where he would occasionally throw in a couple of jokes with them-, gave his full attention to Corvus. She never got that, she never got even a glance from him, no matter how much she tried to prove she was his rival. Now there was someone else that Merula wanted to be acknowledged by. More than Squall. Corvus, who probably thought she was nothing more than an annoyance. Or a joke.

"I'll show you."

Merula continued to stomp to her next class: Defence against the Dark arts.

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_

_I was waiting for the story to progress up to here, but I don't know if I made Diamante into a Marty Stu. I'm a bit afraid that I did._

_Please leave a review/feedback so I can know which bits you liked and which bits you'd like me to improve on! (In the meantime I'll be focusing my attention on not making Diamante a Marty stu.)_

_Thank you!_


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